Borussia Dortmund are back up to third place in the Bundesliga for the first time since Matchday 11. Having failed to capitalise on slip-ups by their rivals over the course of recent weeks, results on Saturday afternoon finally went in favour of the Black and Yellows, who extended their unbeaten home run in less than ideal circumstances.

BVB's unbeaten home run in the Bundesliga now stands at an incredible 31 matches – a club record that is being extended with every passing game. In the history of the German top flight, only seven teams have put together longer home runs. Even without the support of the South Stand, which was closed on Saturday afternoon for the first time ever, SIGNAL IDUNA PARK continues to be a fortress. It was a "strange feeling", said Thomas Tuchel, who nonetheless experienced a "wonderful atmosphere". By the end of the match with Wolfsburg, his charges had proven that they are capable of coping very well with such challenging and unusual circumstances. "Fortunately we'll be back to a full house at our next home game," said captain Marcel Schmelzer. "Of course it wasn't quite the same," added Lukasz Piszczek. But in the eyes of the Pole, the most important thing was that the team "showed a reaction" following the defeats in Darmstadt and Lisbon.

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"We need consistency"

Because unlike in some of their previous matches, the Black and Yellows finally managed to convert more than one of the numerous clear-cut chances they created. Finally the team and fans were not kept on the edge of their seats until the final whistle, and could instead enjoy a relatively relaxed Saturday evening once Ousmane Dembélé had added a third in the 59th minute. "We finally managed to wrap up a match relatively early on," analysed Thomas Tuchel, who believes his team have played with a certain level of consistency recently, despite the defeats in the past two matches. "This consistency, combined with the performances in the Champions League and the DFB Cup, is what we need," the coach said.

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Lukasz Piszczek was singled out for special praise by the coach after scoring Borussia's second and setting up the other two goals in a "Man of the Match" performance. The Pole is now the highest-scoring defender in the division this term with five goals to his name – more than he's ever scored in one season before. "I'm absolutely delighted that he's on such good form and he's showing it so consistently" said Thomas Tuchel of the 31-year-old defender. "He embodies everything that is good about BVB and what BVB should stand for."

The next block of five important fixtures

In terms of the table, Borussia Dortmund are back near where they want to be come the end of the season. Now it's simply a matter of making sure they stay there, even if there is still some work to be done. "We're capable of more," said Thomas Tuchel. BVB's next chance to show what they can do will come next week away to SC Freiburg, a match which marks the start of Borussia's next "block of five" fixtures, as Tuchel puts it.

That run consists of two midweek fixtures – the DFB Cup quarter-final in Lotte and the Champions League Round of 16 second leg at home to Benfica – and three Bundesliga matches (Freiburg, Leverkusen and Hertha BSC). The squad will now begin gearing up for those five crucial fixtures. But first comes a full week of training. "We need to use next week to recuperate and to ensure that we are fresh enough when the next run of midweek fixtures starts," Tuchel explained.
Dennis-Julian Gottschlich