Bundesliga: Dortmund Continues to Struggle After Şahin Era Ends
Borussia Dortmund squandered the chance to secure their first win in nearly two months, settling for a 2-2 draw against visiting Werder Bremen on Saturday in the 19th round of the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the table with a 2-1 victory over Freiburg, coinciding with Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-2 draw against RB Leipzig.
Elsewhere, Mainz defeated Stuttgart 2-0, and Augsburg overcame Heidenheim 2-1.
At Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund played under interim coach Mike Tullberg, who took over temporarily following the sacking of Turkish coach Nuri Şahin.
Dortmund faced a major setback when Nico Schlotterbeck was sent off in the 21st minute. However, seven minutes later, the team was awarded a penalty, which Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy converted to open the scoring.
In the second half, Dortmund doubled their lead with an own goal by Marco Friedl in the 51st minute. Werder Bremen, however, refused to give up and equalized with goals from Leonardo Bittencourt and Marvin Ducksch in the 65th and 72nd minutes, respectively.
Dortmund now has 26 points, sitting in 10th place, one point behind Bremen in 8th.
Dortmund dismissed Şahin last Wednesday after a challenging season, just one day after their 2-1 loss to Bologna in the Champions League.
That defeat against Bologna put Dortmund’s chances of reaching the Champions League Round of 16 in jeopardy, marking their third loss in the competition and compounding their struggles.
Dortmund has not won a match since a 3-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb on November 27. Since then, they have suffered six defeats, including five consecutive losses in the Bundesliga, and have drawn three times.
Dortmund started 2025 with losses to Bayer Leverkusen (2-3), Holstein Kiel (2-4), and Eintracht Frankfurt (0-2) in the Bundesliga.
Mike Tullberg made his debut as Dortmund’s head coach after previously managing the U-19 team since 2020 and later the U-23 side.
