New records – "Everyone knows what they have to do"

There are definitely nicer experiences in life than making a four-hour and 338-kilometre bus journey from Hamburg to Dortmund in the middle of the night. However, the atmosphere was still outstanding at 3:15 in the morning when the team bus arrived in Brackel following the 3-0 away victory over the Red Shorts earlier that evening.

For the first time ever, Borussia Dortmund have topped the table after each of the opening five rounds of a season, having racked up an excellent haul of 13 points and a goal difference of 13-0. BVB, who currently boast the best offensive and defensive records in the league, have only failed to take maximum points from the goalless draw in Freiburg this term.

Another first is the fact that the Black & Yellows have kept clean sheets in their opening five Bundesliga matches of a season. If they can avoid conceding at home to Gladbach in their next outing, as well as in the first seven minutes of the following game in Augsburg, they will have broken the previous club record of 546 minutes without conceding a goal, which was set between matchdays 8 and 14 of the 1994/95 campaign.

Bürki: "We're a big team"

"We've shown all the people who said before the season that we're too attack-minded that that's not the key factor – the key for us is that every player knows what they have to do," said goalkeeper Roman Bürki, who sent his "thanks to the whole team and the entire staff. We're a big team in terms of our defensive performance, and we're always good for a goal at the other end."

Another record in sight is Borussia Dortmund's previous best start to a season, which was set in 2015/16 when the club won five and drew one of their first six games. A victory over Gladbach on Saturday would see the Black & Yellows equal that record too!

Things are going well at BVB! A vital influence has been the coach, who showed so much composure during a turbulent transfer window that Hans-Joachim Watzke publicly praised him for it, a coach who has meticulously conveyed a new system of play to his team in training and who always finds the right answers when players are ruled out. Nine players were missing in Hamburg including Sancho, who was not yet been cleared to play in the Bundesliga.

"The most difficult match so far"

"I'm proud of my team. It wasn't easy, I'd say it was our most difficult match so far," said Peter Bosz following the 3-0 victory over Hamburg, which saw BVB reach two landmarks by scoring their 3,000th league goal and recording their 750th win in the competition. The defence stood up to the Red Shorts' pressure (Roman Bürki: "They stepped on the gas like the fire brigade"), while dangerous attacks were consistently launched at the other end. The lessons from the 3-1 defeat by Tottenham, when BVB were punished on the counter, appeared to have been learned. "As the match progressed, we managed to carve out good opportunities time and time again. We should have scored one or two goals more in the first period. In the second half, we showed a lot of quality in the final third and got the goals at the right time," said Michael Zorc.

Shot-stopper Bürki was of a similar mind: "The second goal was very important, but 2-0 is always a dangerous scoreline, especially away, when the support of the fans can reinvigorate the opponent if they pull a goal back. Our third goal was a real relief for me."

Following the late return from Hamburg, Bürki and Co. will have ample opportunity to rest today. Tomorrow they will begin preparing for Saturday evening's clash with Borussia Mönchengladbach, by which time one or two of the injury absentees may be ready to return to action.
Boris Rupert