With Erling Haaland banging them in, Bayern Munich knackered and Jadon Sancho kept out of Man United's reach, this should have been Borussia Dortmund's year... but their title dream could die tonight, so where is it all going wrong?

It really did look like the stars were aligning for Borussia Dortmund at the beginning of the season.

Erling Haaland had been every bit as devastating as they'd hoped he would be, they'd resisted the advances of Manchester United for Jadon Sancho and seemed to have a team nicely blending youth and experience.

What's more, Dortmund had enjoyed the luxury of a decent pre-season, unlike their title rivals Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, who'd been engaged in Champions League commitments well into August.

Jadon Sancho's dejection (left) sums up the disappointment of Borussia Dortmund's two dropped points against bottom club Mainz on Saturday

Marco Reus missed a second-half penalty in the 1-1 Bundesliga draw at the Signal Iduna Park

So surely 2021 was destined to be the year that the Bundesliga's chronic nearly-men finally claimed their first title since 2012.