Borussia Dortmund sack Sahin after Champions League setback

By AFP

January 23, 2025

Dortmund’s Turkish headcoach Nuri Sahin looks down prior to the German first division Bundesliga football match between Holstein Kiel and Borussia Dortmund in Kiel, northern Germany, on January 14, 2025. —AFP

BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund have fired head coach Nuri Sahin in the wake of Tuesday´s 2-1 Champions League loss at Bologna, saying they had “lost faith” in him.

Dortmund were beaten finalists in the competition last season, but the loss on Tuesday was the club´s fourth successive defeat in all competitions. In the Bundesliga, Dortmund sit 10th, 20 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

German media reported potential successors included former Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag, who has been seen attending Dortmund games recently, or one-time Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen handler Roger Schmidt.

Sahin was assistant to former Dortmund coach Edin Terzic in last season´s surprise run to the Champions League final where they lost to Real Madrid and the 36-year-old was promoted to head coach in the summer.

“We have unfortunately lost faith that we will achieve our sporting goals,” sporting CEO Lars Ricken said on Wednesday. Ricken added the decision “hurts... but was unavoidable after the game in Bologna.

“We value Nuri Sahin and his work very much, we hoped for a long collaboration and until the end we had hope that we could achieve a sporting turnaround together.” The sacking continues a tumultuous time for recent Dortmund managers.

Since Jurgen Klopp´s departure in 2015, Dortmund have had eight head coaches, including Terzic´s two stints at the club. Only one, Lucien Favre, has stayed for longer than two years. Later on Wednesday, Dortmund announced U19 coach Mike Tullberg would take over on an interim basis starting with Saturday´s home clash with Werder Bremen.

A disappointed Sahin said he “unfortunately was not able to live up to Dortmund´s sporting ambitions at this point in time. “I wish this special club all the best.” Sahin´s hiring maintained the club´s recent strategy of hiring former players in leadership roles.

Terzic grew up in the area and was a Dortmund scout and junior coach before taking the top job. Ricken and sporting director Sebastian Kehl also had long careers as Dortmund players.