1. FC Union Berlin suffered an emphatic 6-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday evening. After Diogo Leite’s desperately unlucky own goal, Serhou Guirassy scored four goals within forty-three minutes to seal the guest’s worst loss in the Bundesliga.

1. FC Union Berlin: Rönnow – Juranovic, Doekhi, Leite, Rothe – Tousart (57. Haberer), Khedira (57. Benes), Schäfer (82. Querfeld) – Jeong (72. Ljubicic), Ilic, Hollerbach (72. Skarke) 

Borussia Dortmund: Kobel – Ryerson (85. Yan Couto), Can, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini (70. Svensson) – Sabitzer (85. Özcan), Groß – Adeyemi, Reyna (70. Chukwuemeka), Beier – Guirassy (85. Gittens) 

The starting XI

Steffen Baumgart made three  changes to the side who featured in last weekend’s defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach, though his first name on the team-sheet, Frederik Rönnow, remained between the sticks. He was behind a back four containing Tom Rothe in for Robert Skov on the left-hand side, with Diogo Leite and Danilho Doekhi in the heart of the defence, whilst Josip Juranović was on the right-hand side.

Keeping the armband – Rani Khedira remained in central midfield, playing next to Lucas Tousart, who came in for Janik Haberer, and behind the returning Andras Schäfer, making his first start since the St. Pauli game at the end of January.

Wooyeong Jeong shifted across to the right wing to replace Tim Skarke, while Benedict Hollerbach remained in place on the left wing. Andrej Ilic was up top spearheading the attack.

Attendance: 81.365 

Goals: 1-0 Diogo Leite (o.g. 25.), 2-0 Guirassy (40.), 3-0 Guirassy (75.), 4-0 Guirassy (80.), 5-0 Guirassy (83.), 6-0 Beier (89.) 

Leite’s misfortune and Guirassy’s attacking instincts provide Dortmund with a two goal lead

1. FC Union Berlin had never won in Dortmund, the record at kick-off read five games played, five lost. The record… well, it would stand, as they fell to the worst loss of their Bundesliga history following a second-half where Serhou Guirassy ran riot. Steffen Baumgart was clear when he pointed out later that his side “hadn’t given up.” Far from it. However, following the final whistle, Lothar Matthäus called Guirassy the best striker in Europe. On today’s form, it was hard to argue with.

But, with the floodlights on and the Westfalenstadion full to bursting, such a turnout seemed impossible. There was optimism in the air as Union started the match on the front foot, just as Steffen Baumgart likes it. The fans, singing as one in their corner, were perfectly divided, all in red on one side, white on the other, a riot of colour and noise. Josip Juranović took their lead from the off, looking to attack down the right-hand side, whipping in a towering cross, launching another from a throw-in.

However, it was not long until the hosts sprung into life. Frederik Rönnow leaped to claim a high ball within the box confidently, before Benedict Hollerbach nudged Karim Adeyemi off the ball in the box from behind. Rönnow was again called into action after only five minutes when Pascal Groß found space to shoot from inside the box, despite putting his effort too close to Union’s stopper.

It was a hectic and open beginning to the game. The returning Tom Rothe was quick to get involved on the left-hand side, overlapping Hollerbach after he had taken down a drifting cross-field pass from Wooyeong Jeong excellently at waist height with as much grace as one possibly can when flying at pace a couple of feet off the ground.

Baumgart had spoken before the game of Union’s need to be courageous, and they were certainly that, as Schäfer and Tousart constantly attempted to move the ball forwards from midfield, whilst Rothe tussled with former Union player, Julian Ryerson, as they battled for space out on Union’s right-hand side.

Next, Khedira received the first yellow card of the game having caught Adeyemi above the ankle after quarter-of-an-hour of play. His pleas to referee, Bastian Dankert, came to absolutely nothing.

Juranović blocked Adeyemi’s effort from the edge of the box ten minutes later, but if he had a little luck in his robustness as the shot flew away to safety, the same would not go for Diogo Leite a moment later as Dortmund opened the scoring.

The ball was worked out to Ryerson on the right-hand side. He hit a ferocious shot aimed directly towards the back post, even if it appeared to be drifting wide, but Leite, lunging in to stop it, could only deflect the ball up in the air, changing the flight of the ball with the illest of fortunes. It ballooned over the unwitting Rönnow in slow motion.

Though Union came back at them – Ilić rasping a volley into the box; Hollerbach trying to cause panic on the charge - Dortmund would come inches from doubling their lead as Adeyemi squared the ball for Groß to cannon the crossbar with his looping shot soon after. Maximilian Beier then scuffed his own shot wide at the half-an-hour mark, before Rönnow had to sprint out to desperately clear the ball away at the feet of the recent German international. He won the ball, but had to release it as his momentum threatened to take him out of his own box with the ball still firmly in his hands.

Hollerbach had Union’s best chance of the half as he took Schäfer’s clever ball on, getting the better of Ryerson and shooting across the keeper, yet Gregor Kobel made a sharp stop, diving down to his left-hand side, parrying the ball away from danger.

It counted for little though, as almost immediately, Ramy Bensebaini did superbly to rob Jeong on the left-hand side, finding Groß in the same movement on the ground, who then chipped the ball in for Serhou Guirassy, an inch ahead of Leite as they chased back towards Rönnow’s goal. He was in just the right place – he often is - and bundled the ball over the line to make it 2-0 to the hosts.

Though they had been far from outplayed in the half, Union could now not manage to get the ball away, they were clinging onto Dortmund’s coattails as the half wound down. The whistle could simply not come soon enough.

Guirassy pockets a further three as Dortmund compile misery onto Union

Baumgart sent his side out for the second-half unchanged, and Juranović, similarly to how he had in the first-half, started off as if on fire. It took a combination of both Beier and Bensebaini to stop him in full flow up out on the wing. Schäfer and Tousart were also both felled in quick succession. As Baumgart pointed out, “we actually started the second half well…”

Though there were still dangers when Dortmund had the ball; Guirassy hit a brutal effort half-an-inch over Rönnow’s crossbar on the 52^nd minute, while Tousart collected a yellow card when he brought down the outstanding Adeyemi as he attacked through the middle. Guirassy then flashed a header past Rönnow’s back post with almost an hour played, rising inside the six-yard box. It was a warning of things to come.

With them both on yellow cards, Baumgart switched his central midfield pairing of Khedira and Tousart ten minutes into the half, changing them for Janik Haberer and László Bénes.

Union certainly had not thrown in the towel. Benes made an immediate impact, popping up on the right-hand byline, cutting a threatening ball back across the box which Kobel was relieved to have in his hands after it flew off the swinging boot of Emre Can towards his own goal. Jeong and Ilić broke at pace before Kobel managed to sweep up once more. Ilić then chased Can back half the length of the pitch shortly afterwards, and Jeong did brilliantly to stop Groß in his tracks, having also darted back after yet another dizzying Adeyemi run through the middle as the rain now came down in torrents.

However, as they continued to push higher up the pitch, gaps began to appear at the back. “Rönnow did well to hold onto Groß’s fizzing drive from distance, the slippery ball, squirming out of his grasp, but away to safety. He then slid out to halt Guirassy before he could nip onto another ball played into the box with twenty minutes of play remaining.

If that was the cue for Baumgart to deliver his next changes, Jeong and Hollerbach replaced by Marin Ljubičić and Tim Skarke, the desired reaction would not come.

“What happened after that is impossible to explain at the moment, said Baumgart. “We have to let this sink in first and analyse it carefully in the coming days.”

 First, Adeyemi crashed the post with another fine strike from range that travelled across goal, leaving Rönnow with no chance, before the ever-threatening Guirassy struck once again.

As Dortmund poured forward in numbers, the Guinean international saw his barrelling shot blocked bravely by Doekhi, but it fell as far as Groß, who waited before playing Guirassy back in on the outside. Just as the angle looked to have closed off, he finished emphatically, blasting the ball into the roof of the net at the far post. Though he was close enough, Rönnow never stood a chance.

Guirassy was close to unplayable now, and he would get his hat-trick moments later, as Beier gently stroked the ball towards him. His third, Dortmund’s fourth, would be his easiest of the day, rolled home from only a yard out. A minute later, he would have his fourth, Dortmund’s fifth, bustling past Leite to head home Groß’s cross.

Union were all at sea now, and God only knows how Rönnow managed to keep out Salih Özcan’s header as it seemed certain to have crossed the line at his near post, clawing it away in desperation whilst falling backwards, almost into the side netting. It would be six shortly after as Beier headed home in the final minute of regular time.

Though brutally disappointed, Danilho Doekhi could not praise the Union fans enough at the end. “Today we can only be grateful for our extraordinary fans, who support us unconditionally, even in difficult moments,” he said. “They are behind us, even after a defeat like this. We all know that we have an important game next week. That's why we will work hard in the coming days to give a fitting response on the pitch.”