Hurting Borussia Dortmund lost their first game of the season on Sunday night – and their boss Nuri Sahin tore strips off his sorry players at full-time.
It had been a reasonable start to the season for Sahin’s team until this weekend with two wins from three in the league and a 3-0 Champions League win away to Club Brugge. There had been warning signs, however – they toiled for 75 minutes in the clash in Belgium before subs Jamie Gittens and Serhou Guirassy came up with the goods in the final 15 minutes.
Boss Sahin had hinted he wasn’t quite happy with how performances were going, and all his worries came home to roost on Sunday evening. Travelling to Stuttgart, they were ripped apart 5-1, former Brighton striker Deniz Undav opening and closing the scoring on a night to forget for BVB. It was easily the worst result of Sahin’s short reign and he let rip after the match, saying it’s a result and performance he ‘never wants to see again’ from his team.
“That was naturally sobering,” he raged. “Totally deserved from the first minute to the last. That was very bad. Almost nothing in the duels. The basics weren’t there. Forget about the tactics we discussed. When the basics aren’t there, something like that happens.
“One doesn’t see that coming. We were unified and had a good feeling at the end of training yesterday. The fact is that Borussia Dortmund can’t represent itself like that. It’s the first time that’s happened under me. That was a total non-performance.
“I can’t really add anything to what you saw on the pitch. I don’t want to see such a show from my team ever again. We’ll try and get fit in time for Friday (against Bochum). I won’t accept this as a coach.”
The result means Dortmund need a response against Bochum next weekend before Celtic come to town on October 1. Brendan Rodgers‘ Hoops are flying even if their 5-2 win over Falkirk was less than inspiring for an hour. But it looks like they’ll be facing a wounded animal in Dortmund as their defender Waldemar Anton also ripped into the display. He said: “We didn’t play a good game today. No basics. Defensively today that was nothing. Mistakes were made. We will analyze them.”
“I knew what was coming my way here today. The fans had to say their piece. That’s understandable. I’ll just move on. I’ll keep going.”