Borussia Dortmund sack coach Nuri Sahin after Champions League setback

Borussia Dortmund have fired struggling head coach Nuri Sahin after Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League loss at Bologna, saying on Wednesday they had “lost faith” in the young manager.

Dortmund were beaten finalists in the competition last season, but the loss on Tuesday was the club’s fourth in a row in all competitions.

In the Bundesliga, Dortmund sit 10th, 20 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

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 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 of the current management.

Ricken said 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.”

Dortmund, who host Werder Bremen in the league on Saturday, as yet have not nominated a successor for the coach.

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

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.”

After Tuesday’s loss, Sahin told reporters “if I am the problem, or if a change of coach solves the issues, then that’s no problem at all.”

Under Sahin this season, Dortmund have found it particularly tough away from their 82,000-capacity Westfalenstadion fortress, having lost nine and won just four of their 15 away matches.

Sahin’s side were also eliminated in the last 32 of the German Cup by Wolfsburg.