Dortmund already look like a completely different team with Haller leading the line

The Ivory Coast international bagged a goal against Freiburg on Saturday but that isn't the only contribution he's made to Edin Terzic's side since returning from battling cancer.

Christian Streich would have been forgiven for finishing the first half of his team’s clash with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday with most of his hair tangled between his clenched fists. It was the kind of afternoon that we have all experienced on Football Manager at some point in time and, unfortunately, those mad enough to go into the real world of coaching have to sit through it with millions of people watching their every move. 

As if a quick-fire double dose of yellow cards for Kiliann Sildillia in two minutes, leading to the young player getting sent off after just 17 minutes, wasn’t bad enough, the manner in which Dortmund broke the deadlock was equally as frustrating. After a stramash in the Freiburg box Nico Schlotterbeck - the once favoured son of Streich and Freiburg fans - fired home what can still only be described as a shot from an impossible angle, which somehow squeezed inside the front post of Mark Flekken’s goal. And while the visitors may have levelled the scoring just before half time, Streich would have surely known that his team had already lost the match long before Lucas Holer’s impressive finish. 

Indeed, this was a match that Freiburg lost rather than one in which Dortmund defiantly demanded to win. However, good fortune shouldn’t always brush over some impressive points and while Edin Terzic’s side were perhaps gifted all three points on Saturday, there’s no denying that his team have looked reborn with purpose and confidence ever since they welcomed their new striker back into the fold. Sebastian Haller is finally looking like his old self and as a result Dortmund look like an entirely different side.