The long drawn out "Eeeerling Haaaland" chants that filled the Westfalenstadion in the middle of the second half sounded like a kind of religious intoxication.

The incredible striker had just scored the 5: 1 for BVB against Eintracht Frankfurt and thus finally made it clear that he once again had to be cheered as a great football hero.

It was his second goal in this game that Dortmund won 5-2 (3-1) in the end.

Critics could now ask in view of the known great skills of this footballer: "Only two goals, that's less than half?" But Haaland had prepared the other three goals in addition to his own goals, and was never controllable for the pitiful Frankfurters. He has now scored 62 goals in 61 competitive games. “You always have to be careful not to praise him too highly,” said captain Marco Reus, but “that's a great package”.

The people who paid homage to their star were not only inspired by Haaland's strength, they were also intoxicated with themselves.

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, there was a really intense atmosphere in the largest stadium in the Bundesliga. Marco Rose said: “You can't do much more.

There was a lot of energy in the stadium, which the guys on the pitch used to the full. "

Haaland, Haaland, Haaland

And everyone could see that the new coach has put together a team that, after these first impressions, can actually be trusted to do a lot in the coming months: BVB has talent, a lot of maturity and probably the most dominant player the league currently has to offer.

Because Robert Lewandowski is also great, but Haaland in this form may be less dependent on his teammates.

The 21-year-old Norwegian started the 1-0 with an energetic run from his own half to the Frankfurt penalty area, where he alluded to Marco Reus, who could be called the first goalscorer of the new Dortmund Bundesliga season (23rd). He later put Eden Hazards 2-0 (32nd) and Giovanni Reyna's 4-1 (58th) was preceded by a Haaland shot attempt. After the final whistle, it was not entirely clear whether this action would also count as an assist. In any case, "Erling is an incredible team player who runs for the team," said Rose after Haaland scored the 3: 1 (34th) and the 5: 1 (70th) himself. In the meantime, the otherwise good Felix Passlack had made an own goal to make it 1: 1 and in the end Jens Petter Hauge made it 5: 2 (86th).

However, the five goals hide a few weaknesses that Reus did not want to leave unmentioned in the cheers after the final whistle. “You could see today that we are still a long way from where we want to be,” said the captain. Too often the team failed when trying to build up the game in a controlled manner from their own penalty area and to push the ball through midfield with flat passes. The new goalkeeper Gregor Kobel can still improve on actions with his foot, but the full-backs Passlack and Nico Schulz sometimes lacked ideas for a more adept opening of the game under pressure.

Again and again, BVB was forced to long balls, especially in the first half, which resulted in intense midfield duels, but that was more conducive to the atmosphere. And when it became increasingly clear towards the end of the game that Dortmund would win, the stadium was finally bathed in sweet feelings of happiness and Haaland chants. Even without a fully occupied south stand, the old BVB magic could be felt once again. The fans dug out their songs, they enjoyed this almost forgotten interaction with their team, who liked to soak up the impulses from the stands.

There was a brief phase in which the game could have turned. In the minutes after half-time, negligence crept into the Dortmund game, which reminded of the fickleness that Rose is finally supposed to drive out of the team. Rafael Borré had two good chances to bring Eintracht back into the game (48th 55th), but did not score. Therefore, Reus pointed out that it was still far too early “to declare war”, and Rose said: “It is important that our captain stands here and reminds us to be constant.”

It was noticeable to the coach how great his desire is for the special energies of this club, which his close friend Jürgen Klopp has kept telling him about. Now he is here and said: "I am incredibly happy". Because the experience value of this game was great and sporty the season could hardly have started better.