Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc is “ashamed” of his club after they lost 4-2 at home to visiting Rangers in the Europa League round of 32 fixture.
Zorc, who played as a midfielder for Borussia Dortmund in his playing days, described their defeat to Rangers as “shameful and embarrassing”.
He insisted that the players were not up to the task and should not have found it difficult to get up for such a glamour Europa League tie.
Speaking to German newspaper BILD, Zorc said: “I’m still shocked, I can’t find the words.
“It was an embarrassing performance from the first minute to the last, an embarrassing performance.
“Thursday evening, floodlight game, light drizzle but not too cold, European Cup against a traditional club like Glasgow Rangers – what more could you ask for?
“But the team didn’t accept the game, wasn’t ready for this duel.
“We played sluggishly and didn’t increase the number of strokes at the decisive moment. It was an achievement to be ashamed of.”
Hummels: We played nonsensical football
Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels also slammed the way his teammates played against Rangers on Thursday night.
Rangers took the lead at Westfalenstadion when James Tavernier scored a penalty in the 38th minute. They doubled their advantage moments later as Alfredo Morelos tapped home from close range.
John Lundstram scored a stunner to make it three just after half-time and Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou turned a Morelos cross into his own net to make it four.
Dortmund scored two goals through Jude Bellingham and Raphael Guerreiro, whose goal was arguably the goal of the game. Bellingham’s goal came after Rangers’ third goal and Guerreiro’s came in the 82nd minute when he thumped home from 25 yards out.
Hummels was very critical of his teammates’ performance in his post-match comments. “If you look at the Leverkusen game [a 4-2 loss for Dortmund], we conceded four goals after unnecessarily losing the ball,” Hummels said after Thursday’s game.
“That happened with the first, second and fourth goals here.
“I think we know what our problem is. The coach mentions it often enough.
“We’re playing an awful lot of nonsensical football, a lot of illogical football and making our opponents so strong.
“Our football is also too complicated. If we play this way, we’ll sometimes win and sometimes lose but over the piece we won’t have success.”
Dortmund CEO dismisses reports of crisis talks at club
Dortmund manager Marco Rose was already under pressure after a poor run of results on the domestic front in Germany.
After the defeat to Rangers, reports flooded the media of crisis talks being held at Dortmund over the future of Rose.
Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has come out to furiously deny the reports. Speaking to German news agency SID, Watzke said: “There was no meeting of Hans-Joachim Watzke, [director of football] Michael Zorc, Marco Rose and [head of first-team football] Sebastian Kehl last night.
“Total bullsh*t. There was no meeting.”
Zorc also insisted that there are no questions surrounding Rose’s future, saying to BILD: “There is no trainer discussion.”
Rose, however, has taken full responsibility for Dortmund’s poor form and their loss to Rangers.
“In general I feel I can reach the guys,” he told reporters after the final whistle. “We talk in the meetings and I see them nodding their heads when we discuss things.
“When we talk about certain plays, I see that they are understood. But the challenge is to put it out on the pitch and that’s my responsibility.”
