Nuri Sahin is about to leave Borussia Dortmund as coach. BVB lost bitterly 1-2 at FC Bologna – Sahin has to fear being fired.
Bologna (SID) Nuri Sahin rushed into the dressing room in disbelief with his head bowed; the badly injured coach of Borussia Dortmund just wanted to get away from Bologna after a terrible defeat in the “final”. His players stood dejected on the pitch, in front of the fan block they tried to somehow explain these 88 horror seconds with two quick goals conceded.
“This team is in a bad state physically and mentally,” said Matthias Sammer, Dortmund’s external advisor, on Prime Video: “Unfortunately, this team cannot defend and it cannot attack either.”
The terribly weak BVB lost 1:2 (1:0) at FC Bologna after taking the lead with two quick goals – and coach Sahin now has to expect his dismissal at any hour. A successor could already take over for the Bundesliga game against Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Not nice at all, but finally successful? Until the 70th minute, the encounter was still going somewhat to Dortmund’s liking thanks to an arrogant penalty chip from Serhou Guirassy (15th). But then Thijs Dalinga (70th) and Samuel Iling-Junior (71st) scored – and Sahin’s coach’s chair, which had three legs cracked, collapsed. Direct entry into the round of 16 of the Champions League is in acute danger.
Sahin was ready to fight
Sahin was ready to fight. He feels the trust, but also knows the business, he said in front of the marathon tower in the middle of the opposing stand of the seething Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. “The boys have to deliver on the pitch and I am responsible for that. I hope they do that.” Remarkable: He did without his captains Emre Can and Julian Brandt in the most important game of his young coaching career, and Gio Reyna and Maximilian Beier were allowed to start.
-The bars and trattorias at the gigantic brick basilica of San Petronio had closed their taps and refrigerators in the early afternoon. From 2.30 p.m. alcohol was no longer allowed to be served in the entire city center; the many carabinieri monitored things closely. The atmosphere in the old stadium bowl was outstanding, and in the residential area some fans watched from the eighth floor on their balconies.
They saw how BVB looked for a way forward through the wing positions, if possible without neglecting their defensive work. After a Guirassy through ball, Beier allowed himself to be pushed into a dangerous position – but then the luck that had been missing so often recently returned. Emil Holm tugged on Waldemar Anton’s jersey at a corner, Guirassy arrogantly converted with a lob. When there was no penalty for Bologna in a similar situation, the stadium almost boiled over.
At the back, however, a lot went wrong for Dortmund. Their many corners drew the hosts to Riccardo Orsolini, who shot several extremely dangerous volleys at the goal with his left. BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel had to save once (28th), Sahin asked for more calm with his arms outstretched. For Julian Ryerson on the left side of the defense, the replacement of the injured Orsolini shortly before half-time was a relief.
BVB collapsed
None of this was convincing – and it stayed that way. Dan Ndoye (51′) put an overhead kick just over the goal, as did Jens Odgaard (54′) with his header. Bologna, who seemed more well-rehearsed, stormed with passion. In this phase, BVB only hit crosses from the penalty area and could hardly get into an orderly build-up: The best thing about the performance was the score.
Sahin was hoping for stability from Can’s substitution and Karim Adeyemi to provide a punch on the counterattack. Guirassy could have made the preliminary decision shortly afterwards, he got to the ball in front of the goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski who was running out. But it ended up on top of the goal net (67th). Then a single scene was enough – and BVB collapsed.
