Lucien Favre talks about leaving Borussia Dortmund: “Pathetic mistakes”

After a 5-1 home defeat against VfB Stuttgart in mid-December 2020, Lucien Favre will be fired as coach of Borussia Dortmund. More than a year later, the Swiss is now commenting on his departure from BVB.

“It’s a shame, because we had previously qualified for the Champions League, finished first in the group there, and three days later it was 1-1 against Stuttgart at half-time,” said Favre, describing the BVB situation at the time in an interview with the French newspaper L’Equipe.

After that, Dortmund broke up. “We make pathetic mistakes and it happened in quick succession. After a while you have to accept it. You always try to correct the mistakes, but it’s difficult,” Favre continued.

There was virtually no alternative to dismissal afterwards. He doesn’t blame the BVB leadership for the decision against him. “After that I understand. It’s Dortmund, you lose 1:5 at home…”

Nevertheless, he would be more than satisfied with his time in Dortmund. In the two and a half years in which he managed the sporting fortunes of the Schwatz-Gelben, the club “qualified three times for the Champions League and came second twice against Bayern, who were unstoppable at the time.”

Favre: Haaland “a great transfer”

The transfer of striker Erling Haaland was also one of his great successes during the BVB period. “He has so much power, when he goes deep between the two centre-backs you can’t stop him. He’s made great progress, he’s a big worker with a super mentality and someone who always wants to win. It was a great transfer,” said Favre of the young Norwegian.

Haaland had to pass Favre’s dismissal due to a torn muscle fiber. That didn’t necessarily help either: “He had become indispensable and was injured when I left.”

Favre managed the Dortmund team as head coach between July 2018 and December 2020. He had previously played for Hertha BSC (2007-2009) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (2011-2015) in the Bundesliga.