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Three games into the seasons seems like far too early for a manager to be described as under pressure, but there’s no doubt that suffering three losses in a row wasn’t exactly in the plan for Steve McClaren at his new club Wolfsburg.

Against Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion, Wolfsburg looked second best with McClaren cutting an increasingly frustrated figure on the touchline.

But then again, McClaren could be Felix Magath, who is seriously under pressure at Dortmund’s local rivals Schalke 04. On Friday night, the Gelsenkirchen team, with Raul and Klass-Jan Huntelaar up front, were comprehensively taken apart away at surprise early season pace setters Hoffenheim and looked slow and ponderous.

With Schalke losing 2-0 at the Rhein-Neckar Arena the evening before, there was already a party atmosphere in Dortmund as a sea of yellow BVB shirts swept from the train station up the hill to the Westfalen, punctuated only by a small but vocal bunch of travelling Wolfsburg supporters.

Dortmund’s 81,000 capacity Temple of the Yellow Wall is an impressive structure overlooking rolling Rhur valley forests and seventy thousand Dortmunders have turned up in the hope of seeing BVB record their first home win of the season, having lost to Leverkusen on the opening day.

Inside is a sea of yellow and gold and nowhere shimmers like the 24 and a half thousand capacity Südtribüne open terrace, the largest standing area in European football. Often the entire stand choreographs chants and claps, while the noise is deafening. It’s an impressive example of how to get standing at the top-flight right and creates an intimidating atmosphere for the Wolfsburg players.

Not that Die Wölfe start that slowly, but they’re definitely best in an absorbing first half. Dortmund keep it tight and neat and make a point of refusing to hit long balls, even when under pressure at the back, while Lucas Barrios does a nice job of holding the ball up as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, are playing a much more direct game and are relying a lot on Bosnian star Edin Dzeko and the mercurial Diego, making a return to the Bundesliga after a season in Italy with Juventus.

The Argentine is busy in the middle of the park, but also highly petulant and very foul brings out hysterics from the playmaker. He’s lucky to make it to half time without seeing a card after kicking out at a Dortmund player in front of an irate Südtribüne.

Much of the first half is metronomic. Dortmund are the more creative side but lack a spark in the final third and are vulnerable to the counter, which McClaren’s side perform reasonably well and Dzeko has two decent half chances that go wide.

But as the first half nears its end Dortmund turn the screw and have two decent free headers from a jittery Wölfe defence, with Simon Kjaer, a summer signing from Palermo, looking distinctly shaky.

As Dortmund fans head for their half time beer and wurst, it’s clear there’s a goal in this game, although hard to call which way. On 50 minutes, BVB’s impressive attacking midfielder Nuri Sahin answers this quite emphatically by playing a neat one-two before curling an unstoppable shot past Diego Benaglio in the Wolfsburg goal.

German tabloid Bild will pick this out as the goal of the day, and rightly so. It’s a breathtaking moment of quality and the Westfalen erupts, sending Wolfsburg into their shells.

From this point on the home team are utterly dominant, toying with their opponents and it’s no surprise that 15 minutes later Dortmund gain a second, after a slick passing move sees Japanese attacker Shinji Kagawa latch onto a perfectly weighted through ball and slide home a neat finish.

Wolfsburg are done for an continue to play like a counter-attacking side away from home despite being two down. Even the introduction of Brazilian Grafite doesn’t lift the side and BVB centre-backs Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic have Dzeko in their pockets. There’s no creativity and no urgency, bar from a frantic and red-faced McClaren on the touchline,.

This should take nothing away from Dortmund, whose dominance on the pitch was reflected by 90 minutes of non-stop singing in the stadium, and capped a good weekend for all things yellow in a proper footballing city. When the noise gets going in the ‘Temple’ it’s an experience to savour.

Wolfsburg’s loss gives the Bundesliga a distinctly topsy-turvy feel after three games. Hoffenheim top the table on goal difference from supposed relegation candidates Mainz, while another team predicted to struggle, Hannover 96, sit in fourth, with Hamburg inbetween them.

Stuttgart, who lost to Frieburg, along with Schalke and Wolfsburg, prop up the table on nul points apiece, and all three were expected to be contenders for a Champions League place.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich sit in 11th after an entertaining goalless draw with a spirited Werder Bremen side, who appear to be coping with the loss of playmaker Mesut Özil to Real Madrid.

But that’s what the Bundesliga gives you - unpredictability and a high standard of football. The season is only three games old, which is plenty of time for the supposed natural order to right itself, although don’t be surprised to see at least one club pulling the trigger if results don’t go their way.

McClaren, meanwhile, is learning just how hard and passionate the Bundesliga is. We at twofootedtackle would thoroughly recommend you take the chance to experience it.

With thanks to the Sound Of Football team for their company this weekend. To hear more on Dortmund v Wolfsburg and other German games, listen to this week’s podcast, live from the Westfalen.

Tags: Borussia Dortmund, BVB, Diego, Edin Dzeko, Nuri Sahin, Steve McClaren, Westfalenstadion, Wolfsburg