BERLIN (AP) 鈥 After wasting a great chance to win the Bundesliga on the final day last season, Borussia Dortmund still hasn鈥檛 recovered.
A 4-2 win over Freiburg papered over the cracks last weekend, but Dortmund鈥檚 problems were exposed again Tuesday in a in the Champions League.
鈥淲e lacked the courage,鈥 coach Edin Terzi膰 said.
鈥淭oo much nonsense,鈥 sporting director Sebastian Kehl said.
鈥淰ery bad signals,鈥 club advisor Matthias Sammer said.
Injuries in Paris to midfielders Marcel Sabitzer and Marius Wolf will not help the mood before in-form Wolfsburg visits in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Wolfsburg has started the league with three wins from four games, while Dortmund was fortunate to win two 鈥 against Cologne in the opening round, then against 10-man Freiburg. Dortmund was held to draws by Bochum and promoted Heidenheim inbetween.
Against PSG, Terzi膰 sought to limit the attacking threat of Kylian Mbapp茅, Ousmane Demb茅l茅 and Randal Kolo Muani by lining up with three central defenders and five players across midfield.
But it didn鈥檛 work as planned.
鈥淲ith the line of five the way we imagined it, you can actively defend going forward,鈥 Kehl said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 implement that.鈥
Terzi膰 pointed to the team鈥檚 poor pass rate with almost every second pass going astray.
鈥淲e can put it nicely and say we had too much respect, or you could say that we simply lacked the courage,鈥 Terzi膰 said.
LIFE WITHOUT BELLINGHAM
Dortmund hasn鈥檛 yet been able to make up for the absence of Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in the offseason and has made a brilliant start in the Spanish capital. Bellingham over Union Berlin in their Champions League opener on Wednesday.
Bellingham was injured and didn鈥檛 play when Dortmund drew with Mainz 2-2 on the final day of the Bundesliga last season, allowing Bayern Munich to pip the team to the title on goal difference.
Sabitzer joined Dortmund from Bayern after falling out of favor at the Bavarian powerhouse, and Felix Nmecha joined from Wolfsburg. Neither of them can replace Bellingham on their own and Dortmund as a whole hasn鈥檛 been able to compensate as it was able to do when top-scorer Erling Haaland joined Manchester City the summer before.
Of the team鈥檚 forwards, only Donyell Malen has managed to score so far in the Bundesliga this season. Gio Reyna, S茅bastien Haller and Youssoufa Moukoko remained on the substitutes鈥 bench in Paris.
Terzi膰 still enjoys the club鈥檚 support but the coach will come under increasing pressure if Dortmund鈥檚 poor form continues. After Wolfsburg on Saturday, Dortmund visits Hoffenheim 鈥 where it has traditionally had problems before 鈥 before it hosts AC Milan in the Champions League.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga鈥檚 fifth round, Bayern hosts Bochum on Saturday, and Bayer Leverkusen welcomes promoted Heidenheim on Sunday. Bayern and Leverkusen drew 2-2 last weekend and are both undefeated so far this season.
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