Signal Iduna Park witnesses some incredible scenes on Matchday 7 as Borussia Dortmund twice come from behind to beat a strong FC Augsburg side 4-3. The visitors twice take the lead through Finnbagason (22) and Max (71), but Paco Alcácer twice restores parity before Götze fires home on 84 minutes to put the Black & Yellows ahead for the first time all afternoon. Gregoritsch then hits back on 87 minutes to make it 3-3 and seemingly salvage a point at the death, only for Alcácer to complete his hat-trick with a pinpoint free-kick in the sixth minute of stoppage time. His winner means Lucien Favre has overseen wins in the first four home games of the season and in doing so equalled the record set by Ottmar Hitzfeld, who was the only previous BVB coach to achieve that feat.

The next match against VfB Stuttgart sees Borussia Dortmund set a record by becoming the first team to win four consecutive games and score (at least) four goals in each one. Jadon Sancho puts the Black & Yellows on the path to victory in the third minute, with Marco Reus (23) and Paco Alcácer (25) subsequently finding the net in close succession to make it 3-0. There is a Stuttgart resurgence after the interval but BVB ride out the pressure and Maximilian Philipp makes it 4-0 on 85 minutes. Only once previously have BVB scored 27 goals in their first eight games of the season.

Another entertaining Bundesliga encounter follows against Hertha Berlin and, although BVB look like the deserved winners until the very end with almost twice as many shots (19-10) and multiple chances to extend their lead to 3-1, the capital club strike from the spot in stoppage time to salvage a 2-2 draw. However, the goal does not exactly come against the run of play with the hosts having almost half of their 10 shots in the final quarter of an hour. Jadon Sancho had earlier twice put BVB ahead. The last-minute leveller means that Borussia Dortmund's six-match winning streak in all competitions − including two top triumphs in the UEFA Champions League − is now over.

BVB kick off their first home Champions League group game against Monaco in front of a full house at Signal Iduna Park and, while the principality club manage to keep the Black & Yellows at bay in the opening half, the deadlock is finally broken when substitute Bruun Larsen finds the net on 50 minutes. Alcácer then misses a penalty (69) but makes amends by adding a second three minutes later, before Reus adds a third in injury time as BVB are rewarded for a dominant second-half performance with a 3-0 win.

But undoubtedly the more remarkable triumph comes when the Black & Yellows run riot against one of the strongest defences on the continent as Atlético Madrid are beaten 4-0. Having taken the lead through Axel Witsel in the first period, BVB ride out a 15-minute spell of pressure after the restart before hitting their opponents ruthlessly on the counter-attack. Raphael Guerreiro scores a second on 73 minutes, with Sancho making it 3-0 10 minutes later and Guerreiro later adding another. Atlético boss Diego Simeone is full of praise, saying: "I loved their performance. They were efficient, dynamic and played the ball forward rather than pointlessly keeping possession among themselves."

There is another notable success − albeit a narrow one − as BVB progress to the last 16 of the DFB Cup at Union Berlin's expense thanks to a Reus penalty in the dying seconds of extra-time. The spot-kick was awarded for a foul on Christian Pulisic, who was involved in all three of his side's goals in the 3-2 win over the capital club. He had scored the first goal of the game on 40 minutes to put BVB ahead and then set up the second for Maximilian Philipp, only for the second-tier outfit to twice hit back through Sebastian Polter (63, 88) and force extra-time.
Boris Rupert