Borussia Dortmund coach Lucien Favre denied on Wednesday that he wants to resign after speculation had been sparked by cryptic comments in the wake of the 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich’s win in Dortmund pushed them seven points clear of their rivals at the top of the Bundesliga with six games left.
“I am not thinking of giving up. Yesterday (On Tuesday) we were all disappointed, but my words in the interview directly after the game seem to have been misunderstood in many cases,” he said.
“What I had only wanted to say was that now is not the time to review the season. Why should it be? On Sunday at Paderborn we have to put on a top performance again. That’s what we have to concentrate on. Nothing else.”
When asked immediately after Tuesday’s loss to Bayern Munich whether the defeat showed he was not a title-winning coach, Favre gruffly responded: “People have been saying that for months.
“I don’t read the newspapers, but I know what it is about. I’ll talk about it in a couple of weeks.”
However, some reports in the German media suggested this might mean the Swiss would announce he was quitting next month.
The Bild newspaper said Borussia Dortmund have long been in contact with former Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac.
Lothar Matthaeus, who is a former Germany captain and now a pundit for Sky TV, had no doubt.
“I immediately thought: Lucien Favre is gone, Niko Kovac is coming. That was my first thought after his statement. Borussia Dortmund will probably be looking for a new coach this summer,” he said.
The 62-year-old Favre, who was appointed at Borussia Dortmund in 2018 and has a contract until 2021, has form for walking out of a club.
He quit Borussia Moenchengladbach after losing the first five games of the 2015/2016 season.
His Borussia Dortmund side let a nine-point lead slip last term as Bayern Munich overhauled them for the title.
He was under severe pressure earlier this season after a run of poor results, only for his team to turn it around.
Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has given Favre his backing.
“There is currently no reason at all for the coach to be under discussion,” he told newspapers from the Funke Media Group.
“We are playing a very, very good second half of the season. We had amassed 27 out of 30 points before the Bayern Munich game. We have been praised everywhere.”
