At 15:30, when all the Bundesliga games kicked off on Saturday, the title race was talked up as a four-way battle. Anything could happen. It was, after all, the most exciting title tussle in Europe. But at 17:20, when all the matches were over, it seemed crazy to have thought that any team other than Wolfsburg could win this year’s Bundesliga title. VfL Wolfsburg had just destroyed Hannover 96 5-0 away from home. With the other results going their way, they opened up a two-point gap at the top of the league meaning they need only to draw at home against Bremen next weekend to clinch the championship.

All eyes were on Munich this weekend. The excitement was palpable. Bayern’s new coach, Jupp Heynckes, was surrounded by more photographers than a Hollywood star at the Oscars and media pundits lined up to speculate about tactics, formation and personnel. Would the post-Klinsmann era produce a positive result? And most importantly, would Bayern stay in the title race?

Luckily for Bayern and Heynckes it was hardly a herculean task that awaited them, for 17th placed Borussia Mönchengladbach were coming to town. So it came as no surprise that Bayern lifted themselves from their recent lethargy and dominated the contest straight from kick-off. Heynckes put the Brazilian Ze Roberto into the playmaker’s role behind the two strikers Luca Toni and Lukas Podolski, who was restored to the starting line-up after being used sparingly by Jürgen Klinsmann.

VfL Wolfsburg are not a much-liked club among fans in the league. They are financed by Volkswagen, are based in a city with about as much appeal as a VW Sharan and they draw scorn through their pitiful away support. But they have never attracted too much attention as they have tended to finish mid-table since being promoted to the Bundesliga in 1997.