Yahoo Sports Is Sahin on the brink after another Dortmund defeat?
After another defeat and just seven months into his reign at Borussia Dortmund, is manager Nuri Sahin already on the brink of losing his job?
Dortmund are 10th in the Bundesliga, 20 points behind leaders Bayern Munich and seven away from Stuttgart who are fourth.
They would have gone third in the Champions League table on Tuesday but they conceded two goals in two minutes against Bologna to lose their fourth consecutive game of 2025.
Dortmund have now lost four consecutive matches in all competitions, something that has only happened to the club once (six in a row in March and April 2000) in the past 30 years.
The defeat means Dortmund are 13th and must get a result against Shakhtar Donetsk in their final league phase game to have the chance to qualify automatically for the knockouts.
For the first time in the competition, the German side have lost multiple games after scoring the opening goal.
Former manager Edin Terzic, who guided them to the Champions League final last season, departed the club in June when he felt "the club's new era should begin with a new man on the touchline".
Turkish boss Sahin, who started his career at Dortmund and played more than 250 games for the club, was chosen as that man but the club's season has spiralled with inconsistent performances and defeats.
Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has already been linked with taking over should Sahin get sacked.
How Dortmund's woeful 2025 has unfolded
Dortmund were beaten in their first match after the winter break as defending champions Bayer Leverkusen ended their unbeaten home run.
Things did not get any better when they travelled to Holstein Kiel four days later. The newly promoted side are enjoying their first season in the Bundesliga and stunned Dortmund when they came to Holstein-Stadion, going 3-0 up and eventually winning 4-2.
Captain Emre Can said after the match: "Away, the way we play football is not good enough and we have to change it."
But managing director Lars Ricken told Sky Deutschland: "We don't need to have a discussion about Sahin.
"Nuri is not up for discussion. Rather [it is] the players who have to question themselves."
Three days later, Sahin's side were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Eintracht Frankfurt, prompting Ricken to call Dortmund's position in the table "disastrous".
"Nuri had our support and he will continue to have it," Ricken said. "But it is all of our responsibility to achieve the best for Borussia, and the truth is that the results are not there. Nuri will also be in the dugout against Bologna, with the clear expectation that we need victories."
'We deserved this defeat'
Unfortunately for Sahin, a much-needed victory did not arrive as his side threw away a lead at home to Bologna on Tuesday.
They led through Serhou Guirassy's 15th-minute penalty but two goals in two second-half minutes from Thijs Dallinga and Samuel Iling-Junior gave Italians Bologna a first victory in the competition.
A miserable start to the year continues as Dortmund have now lost back-to-back Champions League matches in the same season for the first time since November 2021 (a run of three).
After another damaging defeat, Sahin told Uefa: "We deserved this defeat. We knew that Bologna would play with intensity and we failed to put in what we had prepared.
"Bologna played intelligently. Unfortunately, we didn't win; we are going through a difficult time."
