Hoping to take advantage of Freiburg’s wandering priorities ahead of their UEFA Europa League (UEL) semi-final in the coming week, Dortmund started fast and only waited eight minutes for their reward.
Ramy Bensebaini’s ball over the top was easily picked up by Maximilian Beier, who raced inside from the left and planted his finish underneath Noah Atubolu.
Any subsequent attempt to attack by Freiburg was thrown back in their faces, and the hosts doubled their advantage when Samuele Inacio drove upfield and played it out to Julian Brandt, who lobbed in a perfect ball for Serhou Guirassy to prod in from inside the six-yard box.
An emphatic win against Freiburg had started to become a yearly fixture at this ground, and Dortmund went further to achieving that when Julian Ryerson’s corner was headed in by an unmarked Bensebaini from close range.
But to their credit, the visitors did see an upturn in the minutes leading up to half-time, and looked as though they had one of their own after the break, when Vincenzo Grifo’s cross was headed in by a marginally offside Lukas Kubler.
Happy to protect their lead, the home side sat back and allowed Freiburg to push for a consolation, but only Lucas Holer’s wide shot went close to doing so.
They seemingly gave up on what would have to be a sensational comeback with about 10 minutes remaining, allowing Dortmund to play it around freely and grab another.
Daniel Svensson took it in his stride on the right side of the area and delivered to a crowded area, where fellow substitute Fabio Silva swivelled and placed a controlled finish into the bottom-right corner of the net.
Not since Jurgen Klopp’s final season in charge have Dortmund failed to qualify for the UCL, and they could wrap up a sixth second-place finish during that spell next weekend.
Meanwhile, though Freiburg’s own European push takes a hit after this result, they may yet join Dortmund at Europe’s top table if they can go all the way in the UEL.