Dortmund are top of the Bundesliga. Let that land for a second. Not for the first time in recent memory, you might say, but the last time they were there, in May 2023, they famously contrived to bottle a title they were handing themselves. The t-shirts were already printed. The beers were cold. Then it all fell apart. This time feels different, even if it is far too early to say why with any certainty.

Four games, four wins. Niko Kovac's Dortmund ground out a 1-0 win at Stuttgart on Saturday night, and however unglamorous it looked, it told you a great deal about where this club is heading.

What Kovac Has Actually Built

This was not the freewheeling, attacking BVB of myth and memory. Dortmund did not register a shot on target until Maximilian Beier prodded in the only goal, finishing off a delivery from substitute Jobe Bellingham. One shot, one goal, three points. Job done.

That Bellingham, a player routinely dismissed as the lesser sibling to his generationally-gifted brother, and Beier, persistently underrated despite his price tag, combined for the winner is worth noting. Kovac has got something out of both of them: Bellingham making an impact from the bench, Beier thriving in a more advanced position. The manager's type is clearly young, athletic, willing, and adaptable. Both tick every box.

The broader point here is defensive. A Dortmund side that was beaten twice by Stuttgart in the 2024-25 season, once under Nuri Sahin and once in Kovac's very first game in charge, absorbed everything the home side threw at them without drama or panic. Stuttgart boss Sebastian Hoeness put it plainly afterwards: "In a top match, decent and okay aren't enough." He was right, and his team paid the price for it.

There will be continued debate about whether Kovac's pragmatic, disciplined approach fits Dortmund's identity. That conversation is legitimate. But there is also a version of this where you simply look at the results, look at the performances, and acknowledge that it is working.

Title Contenders? Not Quite

Managing director Lars Ricken framed the aim after the Stuttgart win with admirable honesty: "It's about annoying Bayern a bit." That is not the language of a club that believes it can win the title, and at this stage, nobody should be pretending otherwise. There was a 16-point gap to Bayern at the end of last season. Closing that completely in one campaign would be an extraordinary ask, particularly when you consider the kind of form Bayern are in right now. They beat Union Berlin 7-0 on Friday night, with Harry Kane reaching 100 Bundesliga goals in 98 games, Michael Olise scoring a hat-trick, and Musiala and Saibari also getting on the scoresheet.

The direction of travel at BVB is the more meaningful story. Trying to resurrect the Jürgen Klopp era was never going to work. Trying to copy Bayern was never going to work. What Kovac has done is build something that looks like a real team: patient, structured, and capable of grinding out results in away grounds against direct rivals.

Whether they can sustain this long enough to make the title a genuine conversation is another matter entirely. For now, though, they are top of the table, they are four from four, and the ghosts of 2023 feel, if not fully buried, at least a little quieter.

That is more than BVB fans have had to say for a while. We will take it.