Borussia Dortmund's Terzic Venting After Tough 1:1 Draw in Leverkusen
Following a tough 1:1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen, BVB coach Terzic let loose in a fiery interview on DAZN, criticizing referee Daniel Siebert and the VAR.
In an on-camera confrontation with Siebert post-game, Terzic expressed his discontent with a penalty call not made against Leverkusen's Tapsoba, who brought down Borussia Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi in the penalty area. Terzic raged, "This is just absurd! There's clear physical contact at the bottom of the shin, and then I have to listen to things that don't have a thing to do with this situation."
With the score at 1:0, Werder Bremen fans watched the opportunity to extend their lead slip away as the VAR didn't intervene either. Terzic was frustrated, claiming, "We discuss VAR mistakes week after week. We discuss incorrect decisions about handball, fouls. And now today, it's not enough."
DAZN commentator Michael Ballack, however, took the opposing view and supported Siebert's decision. Ballack argued, "Of course, there was contact. But perhaps it wasn't strong enough, and then he spreads his legs, making something of it because it wasn't strong enough beforehand."
Terzic was not backing down, pushing back against Ballack's opinion, stating, "The penalties that are whistled against us, whether national or international, are not the same as what happened today. And it's particularly about Karim Adeyemi."
The BVB coach's frustrations didn't stop there. "It's always about Karim Adeyemi, who is so nimble, who is so quick, who dribbles into the situation at 30km/h. And that contact is enough. That's my clear opinion. And then I don't want to defend the referee today."
By the end of the interview, Terzic clarified his stance, focusing on Adeyemi and the impact refereeing decisions had on the young attacking star. "It's explicitly about Karim. Karim is very often in this situation. And he once got himself into this situation by dropping too early and then got a yellow card because he wanted to do something that wasn't right. We discussed that. Since then, he always gets such situations decided against him. That's something I'd like to defend my player for, because the boy did really well in that situation."
Backing up his head coach, Borussia Dortmund's sporting director Sebastian Kehl confronted referee Siebert after the game, emphasizing, "I want to prevent the referees from getting the impression that when Karim Adeyemi goes into the penalty area, it's always not a penalty."
In the end, the 1:1 draw left both teams looking forward, with Borussia Dortmund coach Terzic acknowledging, "Now we have the VAR. Then look at it and then explain to me that the contact wasn't enough. That's the wrong decision in this situation. I'm sticking to that."
Additional Insights: Refereeing mistakes are a consistent issue in the Bundesliga, with coaches and players regularly expressing frustration. In this year's match between Holstein Kiel and Bochum, Lewis Holtby lashed out at two refereeing decisions that heavily impacted the outcome[1].
