Borussia Dortmund have surpassed their Bundesliga points tally from last season after their Augsburg win at the weekend, indicating a massive improvement in the current term.
In the 2024-25 league campaign, the BVB finished with 57 points in 34 games and managed to swoop inside the top-four rankings on the final day as Freiburg slipped up.
Much of that is down to Niko Kovac's appointment as the Croatian manager turned the side's fortunes in the final few weeks of the campaign after taking over.
Under Nuri Sahin, the BVB were having a disappointing campaign. They had won only seven times from their first 19 top-flight matches as the former Dortmund player was given the boot in January before announcing Kovac as their next permanent manager.
His first two games in charge ended in a defeat though as Kovac's spell was off to a troublesome start, with Dortmund losing a total of four games from his first six league games.
But then, the former Bayern Munich coach managed to stable the ship, going the final eight matches unbeaten, winning seven as Dortmund ended their season with five consecutive league wins.
With Freiburg losing on the final day, it even allowed the Black and Yellows to swoop into fourth position and secure Champions League football too.
In Kovac's first full season in charge, Dortmund have continued their fine run of form, losing only twice in 26 games - both against Bayern Munich - and currently occupy second position on the table.
Under the Croatian's management, Dortmund have become a mean side that's hard to beat. The massive improvement in defense has been one of the key reasons behind their strong league run.
Die Borussen conceded 51 goals from 34 games last season which is an average of 1.5 goals per game. But this time around, they have shipped in a meager 26 from 26 matches; just one goal per game.
For the record, that's the least number of goals conceded in the Bundesliga this season after only leaders Bayern Munich (25) while across Europe's top five leagues, only eight teams boast a meaner defense.
On Saturday, Dortmund beat Augsburg 2-0 at the Signal Iduna Park to consolidate their position in second with 58 points, one more than what they managed in the entirety of last season with eight more games remaining.
However, they still fell short of their title ambitions, something that needs to be worked upon next season.