Emré Can and Nico Schlotterbeck candid after Dortmund defeat: “We’re not a top-six team.”

Much like his head coach, Borussia Dortmund captain Emré Can made no attempt to make excuses when it came time to comment on Saturday’s home Bundesliga loss. A packed house at Signal Iduna Park let their feelings be known after die Schwarzgelben delivered a totally limp performance.

The volume of the whistles mirrored that of a similar loss on match-day 28 last year. When Edin Terzic’s team fell at home 0-1 to Stuttgart, the BVB supporters allowed no quarter. Terzic’s squad failed to show up at all for a home match deemed totally un-losable. Now it’s happened again.

As feared, Augsburg have now drawn level on points with Dortmund in 10th place. Kovac’s Ruhrpotters presently find themselves four points off the second Europa League place in the table. The sheer volume of European contenders in the German top flight render Dortmund’s chances of qualification slim.

Can addressed this in his post match interview with Sky Germany, freely admitting that his team didn’t deserve to consider themselves European candidates of any sort. BVB defender Nico Schlotterbeck echoed his captain’s sentiments. 

“We’re not a top team and don’t deserve to be in the top four or six,” Can conceded. “If it continues like this, it will be a very bad season for us. It’s not about fitness, it’s all in the mind. It has to do with attitude.”

“It really hurts,” Can said about the jeers directed at the squad. ”It’s understandable when they [the fans] freak out like that when. One can’t hold the fans responsible for that. It’s us players on the pitch.”

“We just can’t execute,” Schlotterbeck added. “It’s frustrating, disappointing, and really tears my heart out. Today was nothing. Nothing at all. This can’t be reality. Unfortunately, we are where we are in the Bundesliga. We have to hope for the Champions League.”

GGFN | Peter Weis