Dortmund fires coach Lucien Favre after 5-1 loss

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Reyna scores but Dortmund humiliated by Stuttgart

Borussia Dortmund lose 5-1 at home to VfB Stuttgart as their struggles continue. Watch Bundesliga on ESPN+.


DORTMUND, Germany -- — Borussia Dortmund fired coach Lucien Favre on Sunday, a day after the team lost 5-1 to promoted Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.

Dortmund dropped to fifth in the league after the heavy loss and has won just one of its last five games in all competitions in a slump that coincides with an injury to star forward Erling Haaland. Favre labeled his last game in charge “a catastrophe” as Silas Wamangituka scored twice for Stuttgart, which tore through Dortmund on the counterattack.

Assistant coach Edin Terzic will take charge of the team on an interim basis until the end of the season. As well as trying to move back up the Bundesliga table, Dortmund faces games in the round of 16 in the Champions League in February after Favre led the team to top its group with a 2-1 win over Zenit St. Petersburg on Tuesday.

Favre had been with Dortmund since 2018 and, even before the recent slump, was already considered likely to depart when his contract expired at the end of the season. Under the Swiss coach, Dortmund routinely fell short when challenging Bayern Munich, with consecutive second-place finishes in the Bundesliga. The 2019 German Super Cup was the only trophy of his tenure.

“It is difficult for us to take this step,” sporting directorMichael Zorc said. "At the same time, we are of the opinion that the achieving our goal for the season, given the current set of circumstances, is seriously under threat and so we have to act.”

Terzic was formerly a Dortmund youth coach and scout from 2010 until 2013, and later an assistant to Slaven Bilic during Bilic's time as coach of English Premier League club West Ham and Turkish team Besiktas. Terzic stood in for Favre for a Dortmund game against Hoffenheim last year when Favre was taken ill.

Dortmund said Terzic will be supported by Sebastian Geppert and Otto Addo, two of the youth coaches who have helped to develop standout young players like Gio Reyna and Youssoufa Moukoko for the first team in recent years.

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