Niko Kovac on Dortmund's Champions League exit: "We didn't play a good game"

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·25 February 2026

Niko Kovac on Dortmund's Champions League exit: "We didn't play a good game"

Niko Kovac expressed his disappointment with Borussia Dortmund’s performance in Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat to Atalanta, which saw the Bundesliga side eliminated from the Champions League 4-3 on aggregate.

The Croatian coach believed his team made mistakes that simply can't be allowed at this level.

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“At the end of the day, we didn’t play a good game today,” Kovac said in a post-match interview.

"If you concede four goals in the Champions League, it’s difficult. In the moments when we conceded, we simply weren’t fully there and made the mistakes. In the Champions League, these are punished, and naturally we are pretty down about it. That must not happen.

"We are a Bundesliga team, and we have to be able to handle this."