Ten Hag to the rescue? 

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Borussia Dortmund’s disastrous start to 2025 continued on Tuesday night, when the Bundesliga giants blew a 1-0 lead against Bologna to lose the Champions League clash 2-1. While the result won’t have a disastrous impact on their ability to qualify for the next round of the European competition, it did prove to be the final straw for Nuri Sahin’s time in charge as head coach of the club. The following morning saw Dortmund release a statement confirming that their young tactician had been relieved of his duties just 222 days after he replaced Edin Terzic. 

“We greatly value Nuri Sahin and his work; we wanted to work together for a long time and hoped until the end that we could achieve a sporting turnaround together,” said the club’s Managing Director for Sport, Lars Ricken. “However, after four defeats in a row, with only one win from the last nine games and in tenth place in the Bundesliga table at present, we have unfortunately lost faith that we can still achieve our sporting objectives in the current constellation. This decision hurts me personally too, but it was unavoidable after the game in Bologna.”As part of the club statement, Sahin also added: “Unfortunately, we have not succeeded in fulfilling Borussia Dortmund’s sporting ambitions this season as it currently stands. I wish this special club all the best.”

Sahin’s dreadful record as Dortmund head coach

Sahin departs the Bundesliga side with a points per game average of just 1.48, having won just 12 of his 27 games in charge of the club across all competitions. Not only was that a significant drop off from his predecessor Terzic, who averaged 1.93 points per game, but it is also the worst return for any Dortmund head coach in 17 years. The last Dortmund head coach to do worse than Terzic was Thomas Doll, whose short-lived reign in charge of the team ended in 2008 when he was replaced by a relatively unknown coach by the name of Jürgen Klopp. 

While Dortmund have performed relatively well in the Champions League this season, Sahin’s team have struggled to match expectations and in many ways fell well short of the demands placed upon them in domestic competitions. In the German Cup, which Dortmund haven’t won since 2021, Sahin’s team were knocked out by Wolfsburg in the second round, while just three victories since the start of November in the Bundesliga means Sahin’s departure leaves the club languishing in tenth place. With just 25 points from their first 18 league games, Dortmund’s performances in the German top-flight this season is their worst return in 10 years. 

With a purchase value of €258.5 million, Dortmund’s squad is the third most expensively-assembled team in the German top-flight this season, with no less than €80m spent on new recruits in the summer transfer window, such as Waldermar Anton, Maximilian Beier and Serhou Guirassy. As such, while Sahin has had to contend with multiple injuries and a sickness that ruled his entire backline out in the recent defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, there was really no excuse for the club’s tumble down the Bundesliga table.

Who could replace Sahin at Dortmund?

With Sahin now relieved of his duties, the question on every Dortmund fan’s lips is who will replace him and turn the club’s season around? The most high-profile name linked with the job is former Ajax and Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. The Dutch tactician has experience in German football, having first worked as a youth coach at Bayern Munich, but Sky Sports Germany recently reported that Ten Hag is not interested in taking over for Sahin. The report echoes similar news in Germany that former Benfica manager Roger Schmidt has since distanced himself from the job, having previously been tipped to replace Sahin. A third name has emerged in Stuttgart’s impressive head coach Sebastian Hoeneß, whoever it remains to be seen what Dortmund can offer him that he doesn’t already have with his current employers.