The Swiss manager was unable to survive Saturday’s strong home loss, meaning his team has won just four points from their last five games.
Borussia Dortmund have fired coach Lucien Favre following Saturday’s 5-1 home loss to newly promoted Stuttgart.
The defeat leaves Dortmund fifth in the Bundesliga, five points behind leaders Bayern Munich, whose 24 points equals RB Leipzig.
By contrast, Dortmund have won just four points from their last five games, although they made impressive progress in the Champions League, finishing first in Group F ahead of Lazio.
In a statement, the club said: “Borussia Dortmund have parted ways with head coach Lucien Favre.
“The club would like to thank Lucien for his dedication and wish him success in his future.
“Assistant coach Edin Terzic has been appointed as interim coach until the end of the current season. Terzic’s coaching staff will be joined by Sebastian Geppert and Otto Addo.”
Lucien Favre added: “I think it’s a shame that we parted ways here. We had two very successful years and we have a team that would have also played a successful season this year. I’m still convinced of that.”
Dortmund admitted, however, that it was a difficult decision to make.
“It’s difficult for us to take this step,” said sporting director Michael Zorc. “However, we believe that achieving our goals for the season is at great risk due to the recent negative developments in the current situation and that we must therefore act.”
Club stalwart Mats Hummels had criticized his coach’s tactics after the 5-1 humiliation and told the press after the match: “The goals of 2-1, 4-1 and 5-1 all came to fumble in some way that we should never have allowed to happen.
“Stuttgart played very well to take the lead 3-1, it must be said. They had a good plan, they were aggressive and determined. We weren’t. We lacked concentration, among other things.
“We always try to play tiki-taka through little gaps. We lose the ball very often when we try that. If it works, it looks good. Unfortunately, it works in very few cases.”
Favre had been in command since taking office in the summer of 2018 and had led the club to two second places in the Bundesliga, as well as to the knockout stages of the Champions League three times.
In 2019-20, he helped them win the DFB Super Cup, the only trophy he would claim at the helm.
This term, however, has proven more complicated amid the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and also the flow caused by transfer speculation regarding Jadon Sancho.
The young England winger was linked to Manchester United throughout the summer, but no transfers materialized. Sancho has not been able to recover his maximum level, with the 20-year-old awaiting his first league goal of the season, although he has provided three assists.
Next Tuesday it will be Dortmund with an away game against Werder Bremen, while on Friday they will face Union Berlin. They also have a DFB Pokal second round match against Eintracht Braunschweig to play before the Christmas holidays start.