Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v VfB Stuttgart - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - February 8, 2025 VfB Stuttgart's Deniz Undav in action with Borussia Dortmund's Emre Can REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
DORTMUND, Germany (Reuters) -Ten-man Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 2-1 defeat to visitors VfB Stuttgart on Saturday in a disappointing debut for new coach Niko Kovac that dropped his team further away from the Champions League qualification spots.
Kovac took over last week after Dortmund, who face Sporting in a Champions League playoff next week, sacked coach Nuri Sahin in late January following a four-game losing run across all competitions.
Last season's Champions League finalists Dortmund are on 29 points in 11th place in the Bundesliga.
Stuttgart are on 35 in fourth place, the last of the automatic Champions League qualification spots.
"We did it well over 90 minutes with our commitment," Kovac told a press conference. "This defeat hurts us because it was unnecessary. I want to congratulate my boys because they gave their all.
"In three days we play our next game and we want to win it. My players must reward themselves. They have to create chances and then complete them. We have to bring the ball over the line."
Stuttgart took an unexpected lead when Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton turned a cutback into his own goal in the 50th minute. They doubled it with Jeff Chabot's header at the far post just past the hour.
The hosts, who were dominant after the break, cut the deficit with Julian Brandt's low drive from a tight angle in the 81st but their efforts to get an equaliser were derailed when defender Julian Ryerson was sent off with a second booking.
Dortmund travel to Lisbon on Tuesday for their first leg of the playoff against Sporting and a spot in the Champions League Round of 16.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Clare Fallon)
