Borussia Dortmund have thrust themselves into the fight for the Champions League places, with just one point between them and the top four.
Borussia Dortmund powered back from a goal down to crush Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 in the Bundesliga on Sunday to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
Dortmund, who reached the Champions League final last season, have now won six of their last seven league games to climb from 11th to fifth, and are now just one point behind fourth-placed Freiburg.
However, Leverkusen started better and took a deserved lead through Jeremie Frimpong in the 30th minute in what is Xabi Alonso’s final home match in the dugout.
The Spaniard announced on Friday that he will leave at the end of the season, having joined in October 2022 and led them to the domestic double last season without defeat while also reaching the Europa League final.
Gregor Kobel kept Dortmund in the game in the first half, making vital saves, but after Leverkusen’s goal, the visitors never looked back.
It took just three minutes for Dortmund to equalise, with Julian Brandt slotting in from a Karim Adeyemi cutback. They then doubled their lead in the 43rd minute, winning possession in Leverkusen’s half, with Julian Ryerson completing the move with a low finish from the right.
Amine Adli headed against the woodwork on the stroke of half-time, but Leverkusen struggled to create anything of note after the break.
The hosts’ lethargic play saw them lose possession again in the 73rd minute, with Marcel Sabitzer feeding the lightning-quick Brandt picking out Adeyemi to make it 3-1.
Before Leverkusen had time to regroup, they conceded another goal as Serhou Guirassy bagged his 20th league goal of the season 77 minutes in.
Jonas Hofmann halved the deficit in stoppage time, with his header bouncing in off the woodwork, but it was too little, too late for Leverkusen.
Dortmund host relegated Holstein Kiel next week, with their Champions League hopes just out of their own hands.
A place in Europe’s top tier looked beyond Dortmund earlier this year, but a stunning run under Niko Kovac has put them right back in the mix.
They are on a seven-match unbeaten streak in the Bundesliga (W6 D1), winning each of their last four in a row, both club-best runs in 2024-25.
Guirassy proved a key part of their set-up once again. He has now scored 63 goals in his 100 Bundesliga games. Of all non-German players, only Roy Makaay scored more goals in his first 100 Bundesliga games (64).
It was his 13th goal in the second half of the season, while now only Harry Kane (25) has netted more goals this season than the Guinea international (20).
