Despite carrying a 2-0 lead into half-time of their away match against Real in the third Champions League matchday of the league phase, Dortmund capitulated after the break, giving up five goals, including a second-half Vinícius Júnior hat-trick, to lose 5-2. Dortmund's first-half goals scored by Donyell Malen and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens unexpectedly put them in a commanding position heading into the break - but after it, Dortmund did what they've done for so much of this season, effectively rolling over and surrendering as soon as Real netted their first goal via Antonio Rüdiger in the 60th minute.
Vinícius scored Real's equalizer just two minutes later before a trio of late goals from the 83rd minute to stoppage time - one by Lucas Vázquez, two by Vinícius - finished Dortmund off and ensured that this rematch of last season's Champions League final would have the same outcome.
While there's certainly much blame to be passed around in the wake of Dortmund's loss, one person in particular deserves the bulk of it - and anyone who has been following what has been going on at Signal Iduna Park this season knows exactly who that person is.
There is a reason almost the entire fanbase hated the off-season hire of Nuri Şahin who has since proven that he's completely out of his depth coaching Dortmund. The sooner he's fired, the better off Dortmund will be. Including me, basically the entire fanbase ran out of patience weeks ago - and this latest disasterclass is further evidence of that. Şahin made a series of tactical errors that cost Dortmund the victory - and some of these errors were the type which even an ordinary fan sitting on the couch could easily have pointed out.
The most notable of these errors was his decision to substitute English winger Bynoe-Gittens in the 55th minute, bringing in centre-back Waldemar Anton. While it's understandable that Şahin wanted to prioritize protecting the 2-0 lead which Dortmund already had, Şahin could scarcely have made a worse substitution. For one thing, Bynoe-Gittens had been Dortmund's best player up to that point and if at any point Dortmund would need to switch from defense back to offense, Bynoe-Gittens would've likely been the key player to make that happen.
In addition, Anton is a centre-back. At the very least, Şahin could've brought in a full-back to ensure that Dortmund's tactical setup was minimally compromised. It thus came as little surprise that just seven minutes after the substitution, Real scored two goals to tie it at 2-2. Obviously, the only thing that Şahin was thinking was "bring in a defender to shore up the defense and protect the lead" without even giving himself a split-second to think of what the best way to do so would've been.
Şahin also substituted Norwegian right-back Julian Ryerson and replaced him with central midfielder Emre Can. Playing out of position, Can was woefully unprepared to guard Vinícius - and it clearly showed in Vinícius' second and Real's fourth goal when he offered next to no resistance in letting the Brazilian winger stride past him and subsequently run all the way down the pitch for an uncontested solo goal.
Despite being a club icon as a player who spent ten and a half seasons at Dortmund including five and a half as a starter, there was a reason that the fans were apprehensive about Şahin's hiring - and they have been proven right. Şahin's utter incompetence hits new depths nearly every week. Even just two months into the season, Şahin has already done so much damage to Dortmund's season that they already find themselves playing catch-up in the race for a top-four Bundesliga finish and a spot in next season's Champions League.
Quite frankly, even much-maligned former Borussia Dortmund head coaches Peter Stöger and Peter Bosz look like tactical geniuses in comparison to Nuri Şahin - let alone their successors Lucien Favre and Edin Terzić. If Şahin isn't canned by the start of the mid-season break, Dortmund are highly unlikely to come away from this season with anything of note apart from misery and underachievement.
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