It was, according to Peter Bosz, Borussia Dortmund's "worst game since I've been coach." Complaints over the performance in Saturday's trip to Augsburg will more than likely drift away into the ether, however, given the 2-1 win that made sure Die Schwarzgelben go into the international break on top of the Bundesliga pile.
They do so with a degree of comfort, too. After dropping just two points from the opening 21 possible - and thanks to Bayern Munich's concession of a two-goal lead to only draw at Hertha Berlin on Sunday - Bosz's team are five points clear of the champions, with a goal difference already ten better than their rivals.
At the end of a week in which Bayern fired Carlo Ancelotti and with a pause in the season, it's worth asking if Dortmund's title push is real. Given Bayern's dominance in recent years (and they are going for a record sixth straight title), it's worth exercising caution over this, especially at such an early stage in the season - Bayern are still 1.43 to retain the title on the exchange, with Dortmund at 3.65 - but it's also an even greater indication that BVB's strong opening deserves respect.
In case you haven't been watching closely, this was far from a given before the season's start, despite Dortmund's presence as Bayern's most frequent threat over the past seven or eight years. The last season under Thomas Tuchel's leadership was a slog for various reasons - beginning with the trio of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mats Hummels and Ilkay Gündogan being sold, continuing with various reports of the coach falling out with numerous members of staff and taking in the horror of April's bus attack on the way to a Champions League fixture with Monaco.
In the circumstances, Tuchel's achievements in edging Hoffenheim to cement third place - and automatic Champions League qualification - and then winning the DfB Pokal were little short of extraordinary. His subsequent removal from his post was inevitable, such was the fracture in relations between the coach and key figures at the club, led by CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.
Yet if many at Dortmund would have welcomed the end of such of period of sustained tension behind the season, there was little avoiding the feeling that the club were not necessarily upgrading. Tuchel's ability was never in question. Bosz, on the other hand, has won nothing in over 15 years of coaching save a second-tier title with Heracles, and couldn't take Ajax over the line in the Eredivisie or the Europa League last season, despite some very eye-catching football. He wasn't even Dortmund's first choice for the post. That was Lucien Favre, who Nice refused to let go.
The assuredness of Dortmund's opening to the Bundesliga season has been as strong an early vindication of Bosz as he could have wanted. His squad have absorbed his principles of feverish pace and pressing immediately - too much so, some might argue, given their inflexibility in employing such a high defensive line against Tottenham and Real Madrid in the Champions League. Domestically, it suits the players, makes good use of their varied and impressive attacking talent and fits the club ideologically, harking back a little to the blood and thunder of prime Jürgen Klopp era.
The depth is plain, as the Augsburg win showed. Andriy Yarmolenko, who has been excellent since arriving from Dynamo Kiev, and Shinji Kagawa chipped in with the goals while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a rare off day. Bosz's resources are such that he could leave out Mario Götze - superb since the season's start - completely to rest after his Champions League exertions. Players of the calibre of Marco Reus, Raphaël Guerreiro and André Schürrle are still to return from injury.
Much will depend on how Bayern recover from their current slump, of course, and eyes are already shifting forward a month, to when the sides meet for the first time in the Bundesliga this season at Signal Iduna Park. For now, we can just enjoy the sense that Bayern have genuine domestic competition for the first time in recent memory.
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