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Borussia Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin said he still felt the trust from his players but would talk to club bosses after Tuesday’s shock 2-1 loss to Bologna in the Champions League that stretched their losing run to four games across all competitions.
The former Dortmund ball boy added he was prepared to accept any outcome of expected talks with management on Wednesday and would do what was best for the club.
“This is not about me. If I am the problem, if a coach change would solve all problems, so be it. We have to deliver and the fact is we have now lost four matches in a row,” Sahin said. “Even a point would have been important on the road to a top-eight finish. It is not about me but about the club Borussia Dortmund.”
Sahin, who took over this season, had already been under mounting pressure going into the game with his team having lost all three of their Bundesliga matches in 2025.
After going 1-0 up in Bologna, Dortmund conceded two goals in two minutes midway through the second half to drop to 13th place in the league phase of the competition, with one match remaining.
The top eight teams automatically advance to the round of 16, with the next 16 going into playoffs.
“The plan was definitely not to play passively,” Sahin told a press conference.
His team played a solid first half, but eased off after the break, allowing the Italians, who had scored just one goal in their previous six matches in the competition, to come back and earn their first ever victory in the Champions League.
“No,” Sahin said when asked whether he had talked to Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken. “I think today or tomorrow we will sit down. The game is too fresh. It is clear we have to win games but now have lost four in a row. We will see.”
Ricken said after the latest loss that the club’s bosses would meet Wednesday to discuss how to proceed.
“We need wins. We need results. Now we’ve won once in nine games,” said Ricken, who declined to say the club still had faith in Sahin to turn it around.
“I have a very trusting and good relationship with Nuri. He always has my backing, but of course my statements stand.”
Sahin was a ball boy at Dortmund before becoming the youngest player to play in the Bundesliga when he made his debut aged 16. He was assistant coach to Edin Terzić last season — when Dortmund reached the Champions League final, losing to Real Madrid — then promoted in the offseason to coach after Terzić quit.
But despite Sahin overseeing a noticeable downturn this season, he still felt he had the support of his players.
“I would not stay a second longer if the team did not trust me,” Sahin said. “In any club in the past or future, it is a fact that I would not stay a second longer if I felt the team was not behind me.”
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.