Borussia Dortmund have sacked Head Coach Lucien Favre 24 hours after a 5-1 defeat at home to Vfb Stuttgart which was labelled ‘embarrassing’ by local media.

The Black and Yellows parted company with Favre in wake of the defeat which left them fifth in the Bundesliga table, six points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen on the back of a run which has seen them lose four of their previous five league games.

Dortmund have confirmed that assistant coach Edin Terzic will take the reigns at Signal Iduna Park as interim boss until the end of the season.

63-year old Favre had guided Dortmund to the knockout stages of the Champions League as group winners, however their poor league form had left him in a precarious position before Saturday’s shock defeat.

'Embarrassing' defeat

Stuttgart’s strong start earns them a 26th-minute penalty after Emre Can found Mateo Klimowicz and Silas Wamangituka sent Roman Burki the wrong way.

The visitors pushed for a second, but only for Dortmund to strike against the run of play through Gio Reyna after good work from Raphael Guerreiro.

But a mistake from Guerreiro on the edge of his own box sent forward Wamangituka through for his seventh goal of the season early in the second half.

Philipp Forster made it three on only his second start for Stuttgart, before teenager Tanguy Coulibaly added another goal three minutes later with Dortmund’s defence in complete disarray.

Nicholas Gonzalez’s stoppage time effort then put the gloss on the victory for Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side.

'A great professional'

CEO Hans-Joachim Witzke said: “We’re grateful to Lucien Favre for his outstanding work over the past two and a half years, during which time he and his team finished as runner-up twice. Beyond any doubt, Lucien is a great professional and person.”

“It was a tough decision for us to take,” added sporting director Michael Zorc. “Nonetheless, we felt we were in danger of not achieving our objectives for the season after this difficult phase. That’s why we had to take action.”

Replacement lined up?

Monchengladbach boss Marco Rose and Red Bull Salzburg’s Jesse Marsch are amongst the frontrunners for the job at the the end of the campaign, whilst some sources have already reported that Rose has agreed terms to take over next summer.

Rose took charge of the Foals in 2019 and led them to a top four finish in his first season with the club. The 44-year old has continued his exemplary work this season as well, helping Gladbach qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time in 43 years.

It remains to be seen if there is any truth to this rumour, but it is not the first time Rose has been linked to a move to Dortmund.

Rose is considered to be one of the most highly rated coaches in Europe, and his teams are known for their attack-minded, aggressive style of football.

Another manager who could be in the reckoning is former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, who has been out of work for over a year and is keen to return to the technical area.

The 48-year old Argentine has been linked with a host of jobs including Zenit, Manchester United and Real Madrid.

However, it remains to be seen if Pochettino would be prepared to wait another six months for the role with the Bundesliga club to become available.

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