Now the BVB crisis has spilled over into the Champions League. Borussia Dortmund also won at FC Bologna because of two goals conceded within a minute. Coach Nuri Sahin is threatened with elimination after the 1:2 (1:0), as statements from managing director Lars Ricken also prove.
“My expectations after the game in Frankfurt (0:2, editor’s note) were clear that we need victories. I have a trusting and good relationship with Nuri and he always has my backing – but of course my statements stand.”said Ricken on “Amazon Prime” after the game and announced talks for Wednesday.
The BVB boss continued: “I won’t announce a decision out of emotion and from the hip. We’ll fly home tomorrow and we’ll all sit down together. We all want the best for BVB and will discuss what’s best for BVB.” Coach Sahin said after the game that he was “responsible for performance”.
Sahin chooses “very courageous” formation
BVB started the new year with three league defeats and those responsible around managing director Lars Ricken had to declare again after every game that they continued to trust Sahin. He emphasized: “Until the last day that I am coach of Borussia Dortmund, I will try to overturn the problem.” Knowing full well that this day could come after the game in Bologna.
Luise Kropff, Sportschau, January 21, 2025 11:23 p.m
The lineup also suggested that Sahin at least didn’t want to be accused of not trying everything. He took his captains Emre Can and Julian Brandt out of the starting eleven and lined up the four offensive forces Jamie Gittens, Giovanni Reyna, Maximilian Beier and Julien Duranville behind the only striker Serhou Guirassy. “Nuri’s formation was very courageous, very offensive”said Ricken afterwards. However, there was little to be seen of offensive play.
Guirassy scores with “Panenka for poor people”
Dortmund relied on Guirassy for long balls right from the start, but it wasn’t successful. After a corner, Sam Beukema did Waldemar Anton the favor of pulling his jersey slightly – Anton fell and received the penalty. And then the execution was lucky when Guirassy lifted the ball and actually hit the hand of Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski – but he only wiped the ball and let it spin into the goal (15th).
Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy scores to make it 1-0 against Bologna
Huge relief at BVB, club advisor Matthias Sammer commented on “Amazon Prime” about the flattering result of the poorly taken penalty: “A poor man’s panenka.” Guirassy didn’t care, he immediately ran to Sahin, symbolizing the solidarity between the team and coach.
Bologna is angry about the missed penalty
But the players didn’t exactly provide Sahin with quiet minutes. Because just four minutes after the 1-0, Riccardo Orsolini crossed the ball into the BVB penalty area, where Dan Ndoye was hindered in his attempt to finish by a grab on the shoulder by Pascal Groß – a similar situation to the other side, but with a different result: to the dismay of the Italians, referee Serdar Gözübüyük did not award a penalty this time.
As a result, only Bologna played forward and put pressure on BVB, who could hardly break free. Orsolini had the best opportunity when he volleyed home a corner but found his match in the strong reacting Gregor Kobel (28′). Shortly afterwards, the strong right winger from Bologna had to go out injured, which caused a significant break in the offensive game.
No red for Bologna, no second goal for Guirassy
Even after the break, only Bologna played again and missed the first opportunity through Ndoye, who couldn’t get the ball on goal from close range with an overhead kick (51′). BVB then had bad luck with a decision from the referee after their luck with a penalty in the first half. Jhon Lucumi only saw a yellow card for an overly hard tackle against Beier, but a red card would have been at least possible (60th).
Shortly afterwards, Guirassy had a great chance to make it 2-0 after a corner. Skorupski undercut Groß’s cross, but the BVB striker only headed the ball into the net of the empty goal (68th). Guirassy had to be given credit, however: after a previous collision with Skorupski, he played in pain and repeatedly grabbed his ribs, with which he slipped into the opposing goalkeeper’s knee. A little later Guirassy also had to go down.
Anton makes a mistake twice – from 1:0 to 1:2 in one minute
But the missed opportunity was immediately punished. After a long ball, Anton looked really bad and let Jens Odgaard pass, whose cross pass was pushed in by Thijs Dallinga to equalize (71′). But that wasn’t it: exactly 89 later, Bologna was celebrating again.
After a positional error, Anton first fought for the ball, but then immediately lost it while dribbling to Odgaard, who fed Dallinga again. Kobel was able to parry his shot in front of the goal, but Samuel Iling-Junior was there to take the follow-up shot and put Bologna, who had not yet won in the Champions League, into the lead (72nd).
Overall, BVB was disappointing again – and unable to react
Within a very short time, Dortmund’s instability became noticeable; individual mistakes were again and again the decisive factor in the English Bundesliga week that BVB got into this misery. And like last time at Eintracht Frankfurt (0:2), the team failed to show a reaction that would lead to a turnaround.
Until the final whistle, Bologna was closer to the third goal than BVB was to equalizing. The offensive game was overall a disappointment, before Guirassy had a chance to make it 2-0, Reyna had Dortmund’s last shot on goal to date in the 18th minute. Accordingly, Bologna also earned the victory, which could have been clearer without Kobel’s good performance.
After all: Unlike in the Bundesliga, where Borussia are currently tenth, the Sahin team is still fully in the race to advance in the premier class, which has been a refuge from the dreary everyday life of BVB for a year and a half, with twelve points, maybe even a direct entry into the round of 16. The only question is whether it will still be the “Sahin team” in the last game of the Champions League group phase or whether Dortmund will play against Shakhtar Donetsk with a different coach.