Borussia Dortmund Parts Ways with Coach Şahin

Four consecutive losses, only 10th place in the Bundesliga, and dropping to 13th in the Champions League group after the defeat to Bologna: Borussia Dortmund is in crisis. Now, coach Nuri Şahin has to go, as the club has confirmed. Şahin had only taken over the team in June 2024. His successor has not yet been announced.

Sporting director Sebastian Kehl reportedly informed the team of the decision during the night, according to Sport Bild, the TV broadcaster Sky, and the sports information service SID. Şahin is said to have already said his goodbyes to the team.

“If I’m the problem or if a coaching change solves all the distractions, then that’s no problem at all,” Şahin had said after the 1-2 (1-0) loss to FC Bologna.

“The decision was unavoidable”

“After four consecutive losses, just one win from the past nine games, and currently sitting 10th in the Bundesliga, we have unfortunately lost faith in achieving our sporting goals in the current setup,” Lars Ricken was quoted in a statement.

“This decision is personally painful for me, but it was unavoidable after the match in Bologna,” added BVB’s managing director of sports.

With the loss, Dortmund risks missing a guaranteed spot in the Champions League knockout stages.

In the Bundesliga, Dortmund is far off its minimum goal of qualifying for the Champions League. On June 1, the club had played in the Champions League final. But after three defeats in their first three Bundesliga matches of the new year, they are already seven points behind fourth place.

Since the end of the Jürgen Klopp era nearly a decade ago, the coaching position at the Ruhr club has been a revolving door. Şahin is the eighth coach since Klopp’s departure in 2015 to fail at Dortmund, following others like Thomas Tuchel, Lucien Favre, and Marco Rose.

Şahin, just 36 years old, faced public criticism as early as October. Although Dortmund temporarily regained form, the start of the 2025 football year went poorly. Severely weakened by injuries, Dortmund first lost 2-3 to Bayer Leverkusen, then fell 2-4 to newly promoted Kiel four days later, and suffered a 0-2 defeat in Frankfurt last Friday. On Tuesday, the setback in Bologna followed.