Borussia Dortmund interim coach Mike Tullberg has urged his players to “give everything” when they face Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
A four-game losing run across all competitions saw the club part ways with manager Nouri Sahin on Wednesday, a day after a 2-1 defeat at Bologna in the Champions League.
The result leaves Dortmund in 14th place in the Champions League table with 12 points from seven matches.
Dortmund have lost four games in a row in the past 30 years – from March to April 2000 (six in a row) – forcing the club to make a decision.
They will now hope to get their first win of 2025 when they welcome Bremen in provisional charge with Tullberg, their former youth team coach.
“The players have not forgotten how to play football,” Tullberg said during the pre-match press conference.
“My job is for them to have courage and to give the team everything on Saturday. To play with passion and enjoy playing football”
Dortmund are on 25 points after 18 games and are tenth in the league table heading into Saturday. This is their lowest tally at this point in the Bundesliga season since 2014-15 (16 points).
Full focus on what’s ahead pic.twitter.com/plx26TD239
— Borussia Dortmund (@Blackiello) January 23, 2025
They are in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification, having registered just one win in their last seven league games.
“What happened before me matters little,” Tullberg said of BVB’s recent form.
“Now it’s about the next two or three days. That’s my job. To train the team until Saturday,” Tullberg said.
“I am not here to introduce myself because I am now the interim coach of Borussia Dortmund.
“I’m here to help the players, to help the club. Now it’s going to win the game on Saturday. ”
Yet Bremen will provide Saturday’s visitors with a formidable challenge having picked up 1 point from their nine away games this season – only Bayer Leverkusen (18) and Bayern (Munich 20) have collected more points on the road.
