Troubled Dortmund’s slump continues at Bologna in Champions League

Borussia Dortmund’s woes continued on Tuesday after the troubled Bundesliga outfit fell to a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which dented their hopes of direct qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.

Goals in a matter of seconds in the second half from Thijs Dallinga and Samuel Iling-Junior gave Bologna their first ever win in the modern version of Europe’s elite club competition and handed Dortmund their fourth straight defeat in all competitions.

Last season’s finalists Dortmund, who opened the scoring in the 15th minute through Serhou Guirassy’s classy chipped penalty, are on 12 points, one point from the top eight with other teams set to complete the penultimate round of league phase matches on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s defeat will pile more pressure on under-fire coach Nuri Sahin even though his players showed their support by joining him in a group hug after Guirassy netted his seventh goal in as many Champions league matches this season.

Bologna have five points and sit outside the play-off positions but it would have been difficult to tell judging by the celebrations of the players, coach Vincenzo Italiano and 30,000 fans at a jumping Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.

The seven-time Italian champions won a preliminary round match against Anderlecht in the old European Cup in 1964, but were eliminated by the Belgians and didn’t return to the top level of continental competition until this season.

Bologna were furious with the awarding of the spot-kick with which Guirassy gave Dortmund the lead for a soft foul on Waldemar Anton. 

They were even angrier when referee Serdar Gozubuyuk refused to give the hosts a penalty of their own for a similar shirt tug on Dan Ndoye just as the Swiss looked set to score form a Riccardo Orsolini cross.

That incident, in the 19th minute, seemed to wake up a previously timid Bologna who then dominated the play, with Orsolini, twice, and Santiago Castro going close to netting their first Champions League goals.

But Italy international Orsolini, who has scored eight times this season, left the field with his head in his shirt 10 minutes before the break after being forced off with what looked like a hamstring injury.

Orsolini’s departure didn’t deflate Bologna however, with the Italians continuing to push for an equaliser which game in the 71st minute when, after being brilliantly sent through by Charalampos Lykogiannis, Jens Odgaard provided a perfect low cross for Dallinga to tap home.

And seconds later Bologna were ahead through Iling-Junior, who pounced on the rebound after Dallinga was denied a second by Gregor Kobel and gave his team a historic win.