Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender as assistant coaches to Edin Terzic

For the planned comeback after the winter break, Borussia Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic has two former BVB crowd favorites at his side. Former players Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender are returning to the Ruhrpott club and will support Terzic, who has recently come under criticism, as co-coaches.

The club confirmed this on Friday after various media had previously reported on it. The news came as quite a surprise; after the public commitment to Terzic a week ago, the team actually seemed to be the focus of changes.

“We have analyzed the course of the season so far intensively. One of our shared findings was that we wanted to give new impetus to the coaching staff,” said BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl, explaining the personnel changes in the coaching team. The previous co-coach Armin Reutershahn is also leaving the club at his own request.

“It was my clear wish”

Kehl, who became German champion with Sahin and Bender in 2011 wearing the BVB jersey, described the two new assistants as “professionals and personalities” who will “enrich the team both in terms of content and character”.

But the former professionals are also ambitious and ambitious. There is a risk that they could be seen as potential successors for Terzic (41) if BVB does not make up the gap to the Champions League places in the second half of the season. But the head coach made it clear: “It was my clear wish to win Nuri and Sven as co-coaches for us. I am extremely happy about the opportunity to have both of them by my side.”

Sahin (35) made his debut at BVB in 2005 at the age of 16 as the youngest Bundesliga player and played a total of 274 games for the black and yellow team – with stops at Feyenoord Rotterdam, Real Madrid and Liverpool FC. For the past two and a half years he has worked successfully as head coach and sporting director at the Turkish first division club Antalyaspor. He has now terminated his contract there, which ran until mid-2026.

Daniel Theweleit, Dortmund Published/Updated: Daniel Theweleit, Dortmund Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2 Daniel Theweleit Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2

“It was an incredibly intense, instructive and emotional time,” said the former Turkish international, who nevertheless decided to take on the new challenge with confidence: “If BVB asks, I can’t say no.” It feels “very nice “To come home,” said Sahin: “As a coaching team, we will try together to get the team back on the road to success.”

His former teammate Bender (34) is also happy about his return. When the request came, he initially thought about it and “finally decided that I absolutely had to be a black and yellow person again,” said Bender. For this opportunity, he also terminated his contract as assistant coach of the U-17 team of the German Football Association.

“I am extremely happy about the opportunity to have both of them at my side”: Coach Edin Terzic : Image: dpa

Terzic is under pressure after six competitive games without a win and falling to fifth place in the second half of the season. After a round of analysis lasting several hours, the club bosses agreed to continue working together. But doubts about his work had recently increased. “How long I am here is not up to me. Of course, the leadership and the result decide,” Terzic said.