[Football] Dortmund welcomes entrant Nuri Sahin

Tuesday’s defeat at Bologna in the Champions League was too much for Nuri Sahin, fired by Borussia Dortmund seven months after his promotion as head coach.

Borussia Dortmund announced this Wednesday that they were parting ways with their coach Nuri Sahin, the day after a fourth defeat in a row in all competitions, at Bologna (2-1) in the Champions League. With “only one victory in the last nine matches”, the Ruhr club, currently 10th in the Bundesliga, has “lost confidence” in its ability to achieve its objectives, sports director Lars Ricken said on the BVB website. The name of Sahin’s successor is not yet known.

Still racing in C1, but dropped in the championship

If this decision “also hurts me personally”, because “we really appreciate Nuri Sahin and his work”, “it was no longer avoidable after the Bologna match”, underlined Lars Ricken. The finalist of the last Champions League is still well placed in the single pool of the premier competition (13th, 12 pts), but it is completely behind in the Bundesliga, 20 points behind the leader, Bayern Munich.

Assistant to coach Edin Terzic last season, his first at the club as part of the staff, Sahin was promoted to head coach in the summer of 2024. The 36-year-old former Turkish international won the Bundesliga as a player with Dortmund in 2011. Unfortunately, we have failed to honor Borussia Dortmund’s sporting ambitions this season at this stage. I wish all the best to this special club,” reacted Nuri Sahin, quoted in the press release.

Erik Ten Hag or Roger Schmidt to replace him?

The club has not yet named his replacement for the reception of Werder Bremen on Saturday in the league. German media have discussed former Manchester United coach Erik Ten Hag as a possible successor. The Dutchman has been seen as a spectator at recent Borussia matches. The German Roger Schmidt, who played for Bayer Leverkusen, PSV Eindhoven and Benfica Lisbon (where he briefly coached Leandro Barreiro before being fired in September), was also cited.

Under Sahin’s leadership, Dortmund were particularly struggling away from home at the Westfalenstadion, with 9 losses and just 4 wins in 15 matches. That of Tuesday against the Italians of Bologna, who only had two points before this 7th day of the Champions League, will therefore have been one too many.