Freiburg entered the two-month break second only to Bayern Munich in the table after winning four of its final five league games of 2022.

But any thoughts of possibly rivalling 10-in-a-row champion Bayern was put into perspective by Wolfsburg at Volkswagen Arena.

"I don't have any explanation. It wasn't expected. We have to look at what went wrong," Freiburg captain Gunter said.

"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 it drop to fourth below Eintracht Frankfurt and Union Berlin, with all three sides five points behind leader Bayern, which drew with RB Leipzig on Saturday (AEDT).

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 its fifth in a row in Bundesliga, its best run since 2014 when winning six in a row, and moves it within four points of the UEFA 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."