Borussia Dortmund have parted ways with head coach Nuri Sahin.
The 36-year-old, who was appointed in June 2024, has left the club after a 2-1 defeat to Bologna in the Champions League. The defeat left Dortmund with just one win in their last nine matches in all competitions.
Dortmund are still well-placed to progress to the next round of the competition but domestically, the club’s form under Sahin has been dismal.
Lars Ricken, Dortmund’s sporting director, said: “We value Nuri Sahin and his work very much, 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, due to only one win in the last nine games and currently tenth in the Bundesliga table, we have unfortunately lost faith in being able to achieve our sporting goals in the current constellation. This decision hurts me personally, but it was unavoidable after the game in Bologna.”
Sahin said: “Unfortunately, we have not managed to live up to Borussia Dortmund’s sporting ambitions this season. I wish this special club all the best.”
Borussia Dortmund und Nuri Sahin gehen ab sofort getrennte Wege
Der BVB hat seinen Cheftrainer nach der enttäuschenden 1:2-Niederlage in der UEFA Champions League am Dienstagabend beim FC Bologna freigestellt.
Alle Infos:
👉 https://t.co/TufDGRXeGq pic.twitter.com/3CeC9hgAAe— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) January 22, 2025
The defeat to Bologna was the team’s fourth successive loss in all competitions since returning from German football’s winter break, a run which leaves Dortmund tenth in the Bundesliga after 18 games, 20 points behind leaders Bayern Munich. Dortmund also exited the DFB Pokal in the second round following defeat to Wolfsburg in October.
Dortmund’s players were told of their decision at the team hotel in Italy on Tuesday night. Sahin and his staff departed separately, with the team due to arrive back in Germany on Wednesday.
The club held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning, where the decision was confirmed. No decision on Sahin’s successor has yet been made.
Sahin was appointed Dortmund’s head coach in June, replacing Edin Terzic, who left the club by mutual consent two weeks after their defeat to Real Madrid in the 2024 Champions League final.
Sahin spent two spells at Dortmund as a player and had been assistant coach to Terzic since December 2023 before stepping into the head coach role in the summer.
He had left his role as head coach of Turkish Super Lig club Antalyaspor — his first managerial position — after 26 months to return to the German club.
GO DEEPER
Sahin is at the centre of Borussia Dortmund’s crisis but the problems run much deeper
(Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
