Borussia Dortmund Sacks Nuri Sahin Amid Poor Form

Borussia Dortmund has sacked Nuri Sahin following their Tuesday night Champions League defeat to Bologna. It marks Dortmund’s fourth successive defeat in a row in all competitions.

The club currently sits in 10th place in the Bundesliga table and 13th in the UEFA Champions League table. They crashed out of the DFB-Pokal after a 1-0 defeat to Wolfsburg last October. The poor performances are a stark contrast from where they were last season when they reached the Final of the Champions League.

“Unfortunately, we have not managed to live up to Borussia Dortmund’s sporting ambitions this season. I wish this special club all the best,” said Sahin in an official statement.

Sahin was hired after previous manager Edin Terzic departed the club at his request following the 2-0 loss to Real Madrid in last year’s Final. Sahin was also someone Dortmund was highly familiar with as the midfielder spent the majority of his best years playing in front of the famed Yellow Wall. Under manager Jurgen Klopp, they won the Bundesliga in the 2010/11 season as he was named the best midfielder in the league. The impressive performances earned him a move to Real Madrid, but he moved back to Dortmund a few years later after failing to break through at Los Blancos.

After retiring as a player in 2021, he went straight to managing Turkish side Antalyaspor. Antalyaspor went on an impressive winning streak to secure its top-flight status and gave undefeated side Trabzonspor its first league loss of the season. It seemed a perfect fit for Dortmund to bring in a former club great to lead the club.

“We value Nuri Sahin and his work very much,” said Dortmund sporting director Lars Ricken. “We hoped for a long-term collaboration and until the end we had hoped that we could achieve a sporting turnaround together.

“After four defeats in a row… we have unfortunately lost faith in being able to achieve our sporting goals. This decision hurts me personally, but it was unavoidable after the game in Bologna.”