Andrej Kramaric netted four goals as Borussia Dortmund's campaign ended in a humiliating manner with a 4-0 thrashing by Hoffenheim.

It was the Croatian, rather than Dortmund forward Erling Haaland, who stole the show at Signal Iduna Park with a goal glut to ensure Hoffenheim finished sixth - good enough to qualify for the group stages of next season's Europa League.

BVB were already assured of a second-placed finish, and they left Achraf Hakimi and Jadon Sancho on the bench until half-time, but they suffered a heavy loss just two days after it was confirmed boss Lucien Favre will be back next season.

Former Leicester City striker Kramaric scored twice before the break and added another two within five minutes of the restart to take his tally for the season to 12.

Favre's men fell behind just eight minutes in as an unmarked Kramaric loitered at the edge of the box before curling home from Pavel Kaderabek's pull-back.

More lax Dortmund defending saw them fall 2-0 behind on the half-hour mark as Robert Skov's shot was turned in by Kramaric, who had been played onside by Lukasz Piszczek.

Favre called for Hakimi and Sancho at the break but it quickly went from bad to worse.

Mats Hummels twice failed to clear the ball and Piszczek had not accounted for Kramaric, who cut inside Dortmund's captain and rolled a finish through Roman Burki's legs for his hat-trick.

Moments later, Hoffenheim had a penalty, Hummels adjudged to have barged Munas Dabbur to the ground, with Kramaric squeezing a shot under Burki from the spot to give him a fourth of the afternoon.

Had it not been for Burki, the defeat could have been even heavier as he made smart stops to deny Dabbur, Skov and substitute Christoph Baumgartner.

For departing Dortmund midfielder Mario Gotze - only in the stands because he had been unable to take the required coronavirus tests to allow him to play - this was a farewell he was probably glad not to be part of.

 

What does it mean? Embarrassing end for disappointing Dortmund campaign

This campaign had promised so much for Dortmund, particularly when Haaland arrived in January and hit the ground running, yet they have finished behind Bayern Munich again having lost three of their final four home games.

The absence of fans can perhaps explain that to a certain degree but, with Real Madrid loanee Hakimi seemingly not returning next term, and rumours persisting about Sancho's future too, you have to wonder if Dortmund will actually take a step back in 2020-21.

Goal glut for Kramaric

For the fourth successive season Kramaric reached double figures in the Bundesliga - a feat all the more impressive this term given his injury issues.

The 29-year-old, who has only made 14 starts this season, delivered a display of ruthless finishing, one that the much hyped Haaland would have admired.

Horror show for Hummels and Piszczek

Dortmund's two senior centre-backs were run ragged by Kramaric, failing to pick up runners and committing basic errors that you do not expect to see from players of their calibre.

BVB had kept three clean sheets in their past four games so we will put this one down to a bad day at the office.

What's next?

Dortmund's second-placed finish means they will be in the Champions League next term, while Hoffenheim will compete in the Europa League.