Christian Gunter was lost for words after his Freiburg side were thumped 6-0 by Wolfsburg on their return to Bundesliga action on Saturday.
Freiburg entered the two-month break second only to Bayern Munich in the table after winning four of their final five league games of 2022.
But any thoughts of possibly rivalling 10-in-a-row champions Bayern were put into perspective by Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena.
Christian Streich's side were behind after just 59 seconds through a Patrick Wimmer strike, before Jonas Wind's double put the hosts in complete control before half-time.
Yannick Gerhardt and Ridle Baku joined the scoresheet in the second half, and Luca Waldschmidt beat Mark Flekken from the penalty spot to complete the scoring.
"I don't have any explanation. It wasn't expected. We have to look at what went wrong," Freiburg captain Gunter told Sky Sport.
"It's extremely painful to start like this in 2023. Everything came together for them; it was a very bad day for us."
Freiburg's heavy loss sees them drop to fourth below Eintracht Frankfurt and Union Berlin, with all three sides five points behind leaders Bayern.
Reflecting on a chastening day for his side, Freiburg head coach Christian Streich said: "We lost 6-0 and didn't have a chance.
"After the first minute, we got to know how good Wolfsburg are. In the end, we lost 6-0. What can I say? Maybe it's best I don't say anything."
Wolfsburg's win was their fifth in a row in Bundesliga – their best run since 2014 when winning six in a row – and moves them within four points of the Champions League spots.
"We got off to a very good start," Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac said. "From our second shot, we scored our second goal, then it was a sure-fire success from there.
"Basically, you can't go wrong from there. I'm happy with the way this team is developing."
St. Jago, Eltham, STATHS and Wolmer’s through to Walker Cup final four
St. Jago High, Eltham High, STATHS and Wolmer’s Boys all advanced to the semi-finals of the Walker Cup knockout tournament after quarter-final wins on Thursday.
St. Jago booked their spot in the last four after a 3-2 win over Calabar High at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.
St. Jago took an early lead before Calabar equalized in the 45th minute through Kevaun Campbell. St. Jago retook the lead five minutes into the second half through Richardo Lewis before Seon Cato made it 3-1 in the 74th minute.
Calabar got a consolation goal through Sheldon Pusey eight minutes from full time but it wasn’t enough.
In the second game of the double header at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex, Wolmer’s Boys got the better of St. George’s College 2-1.
Elsewhere, STATHS got a comfortable 3-0 win over Charlie Smith at Calabar to advance while Eltham beat Jonathan Grant 3-1 at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to make it through.
Venezuela 1-1 Brazil: Super sub Segovia holds Selecao to shock draw
Substitute Telasco Segovia delivered the pivotal goal that saw 10-man Venezuela hold Brazil to a 1-1 draw in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.
The shock result leaves Brazil in third place, trailing second-placed Colombia by two points and far short of Argentina in first.
Brazil opened the scoring just before half-time as Raphinha curled a delightful free-kick over the Venezuela wall from 20 yards out to break the deadlock.
On the other side of the break, however, half-time substitute Segovia equalised just 41 seconds after the restart, striking from outside the box, having run onto Jefferson Savarino’s short lay-off.
The visitors were provided with a prime opportunity to restore their lead when Rafael Romo fouled Vinicius Junior in the box. But the Real Madrid forward was unable to capitalise on the resulting penalty, seeing his initial effort saved before firing the rebound wide.
As tensions rose, the game delivered further drama as Alexander Gonzalez received his marching orders in the 89th minute for lashing out at Vinicius after fouling Gabriel Martinelli.
In a farcical ending to the lively affair, sprinklers popped up in the pitch in added time to delay proceedings, but neither side could find a way through.
Data Debrief: Instant impact for super sub Segovia
Segovia's goal, 41 seconds after coming on, is the fastest for a player coming off the bench in the last three editions of the South American World Cup Qualifiers.
Venezuela have now scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, only Brazil (four) and Colombia (four) have scored more in the 2026 CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers.
Kelleher repays Ireland trust in Finland victory
Republic of Ireland winger Mikey Johnston said the team had always trusted Caoimhin Kelleher after he made a crucial penalty save in their 1-0 Nations League win over Finland.
Johnston's corner set up Brighton and Hove Albion striker Evan Ferguson for the decisive goal on the stroke of half-time, after Finland had twice been denied by the woodwork.
The visitors had a golden chance to level in the second half, but Liverpool goalkeeper Kelleher made a stunning save to deny Joel Pohjanpalo from 12 yards following a handball from Ferguson.
The result means Finland are relegated from Group B2, while Ireland must come through a play-off to remain in the competition's second tier.
Speaking after the game, Johnston credited Kelleher's all-important penalty save, saying: "I always trust him to go and save a penalty. He has reacted really well and stepped up in a big moment.
"We were aiming for the win. They had moments but there were a few chances we could have taken as well.
"We're happy that we've come away with the win. Sometimes in the last year we would have been on the other side of a bit of bad luck."
Ireland round off their campaign against England on Sunday, in Lee Carsley's final game in charge of the Three Lions before Thomas Tuchel takes the reins in January.
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