Edin Terzic says Borussia Dortmund’s 3-0 defeat at Mainz was evidence of “the side we’ve shown far too often this season”.
Dortmund came into the game having secured a place in this year’s Champions League final with a 1-0 win against Paris Saint-Germain in the Parc des Princes on Tuesday, giving them a 2-0 aggregate victory.
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But Terzic’s side went 3-0 down after 23 minutes against struggling Mainz, who began the day in the Bundesliga’s relegation play-off place. Midfielder Leandro Barreiro opened the scoring in the 12th minute, finishing after a cut-back from Silvan Widmer.
Jae-Sung Lee capitalised on a poor pass from goalkeeper Alexander Meyer to make it 2-0 seven minutes later, with Barreiro then turning provider for the South Korean’s second goal shortly after.
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“Let’s let Paris be Paris and talk about last week and this week,” Terzic said.
“We set the team up in a similar way to how we did a week ago in the home game against Augsburg. It was a similar game today, only this time we were the team that were always late to the ball and always losing out in the tackles. That’s why it was a deserved defeat.
“Mainz fought for every inch, didn’t give us any peace in possession, whereas we did. They also punished us with ice-cold finishing.
“Unfortunately, that’s the side we’ve shown far too often this season. We wanted to use the three weeks leading up to the final to make them the best three weeks of the season — that hasn’t happened. That comes down to the coach too. That’s why I’m also not excluding myself from this.”
Defender Nico Schlotterbeck was the only player to start the PSG and Mainz matches. However, the starting line-up against Mainz was not dissimilar to the one that beat Augsburg 5-0 last Saturday, with midfielder Salih Ozcan, Meyer and Schlotterbeck the only changes from that team.
Terzic responded to Dortmund’s frustrating first half by making three changes at half-time, with Jadon Sancho, Ian Maatsen and Julian Brandt coming on for Donyell Malen, Mateu Morey and Ozcan.
Those changes, though, made little impact as Dortmund slipped further behind fourth-placed RB Leipzig, who drew 1-1 with Werder Bremen earlier in the day. Those results mean Dortmund will finish the season in fifth place, as they are four points behind Leipzig heading into next Saturday’s final round of matches.
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“If you look at the first half, the result is in order,” Marco Reus, who will leave Dortmund upon the end of his contract this June, added. “Mainz were always one step ahead. We did exactly the opposite of what we did against Augsburg a week ago.
“I was hoping for a different final away game. But it’s the way it is now. I’m looking forward to next week.”
Dortmund have struggled to match last season’s efforts, when they were leapfrogged at the top of the league by Bayern Munich on the final day of the season after a 2-2 home draw against Mainz on the final day of the campaign.
They are still guaranteed to play in the Champions League next year, irrespective of what happens in next month’s final against Real Madrid, due to the Bundesliga’s superior UFEA club coefficient over the Premier League securing it a fifth qualifying spot for the 2024-25 campaign.
(Top photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
