If you had tipped VfL Wolfsburg for the Bundesliga title at the beginning of the season, you would have been declared crazy. If you had been crazy enough to put money on it, you would have been, well, crazy rich. Even Wolfsburg’s coach Felix Magath admitted that before the season he never would have thought that “Wolfsburg have a chance to be German champions.” But on Saturday Wolfsburg won the championship for the first time in their history; sending players and fans absolutely crazy as they all danced around the pitch in a beer-soaked, chaotic frenzy.

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.

There was a collective gasp by Bundesliga fans watching the top match between VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich. Not only had Grafite just scored an outrageously brilliant back-heeled goal that sent the broadcasters into a replay-showing, superlative-searching frenzy – it also happed to be the fifth goal in a 5-1 demolition of Bayern that put Wolfsburg top of the league.

Ten touches in eight seconds to take out five Wolfsburg players – Grafite’s Goal of the Year personified Wolfsburg’s dominance: He received the ball from Dzeko in left midfield and dribbled towards Ottl who backed off the striker allowing him to run into the box. Lell had come across to help his teammate, but the Brazilian faked left and then cut inside squeezing between the two players to come across the face of goal. With goalkeeper Rensing closing down the angle he continued his parallel run and executed a cheeky back heel bamboozling Lahm and Breno who had rushed back.

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.

That however has changed emphatically this season, as the “Wolves” are the best team in the second half of the season, notching up the most goals in the league. And following this weekend’s 3-0 away win against Bielefeld they have moved within one point of league leaders Hertha BSC Berlin and look a very good bet for the title. The team coached and managed by former Bayern München coach Felix Magath are playing exciting, attacking football with their very own “magic triangle”: The Bosnia and Herzegovina internationals Zvjezdan Misimovic and Edin Dzeko, as well as Brazilian striker Grafite.