Coach Terzic: 'I am responsible for Dortmund, not the referee'

"When a decision requires five to six minutes of deliberation, it's not an easy decision. I'm the Dortmund coach, responsible for the team's performance, not the referee's," Terzic said after the 0-0 loss. -2 on Chelsea's field on the evening of March 7. "We haven't talked about the referee for the past few weeks and won't bring it up today. Dortmund has no reason to be ashamed of this defeat. Don't get me wrong. We are disappointed, but Dortmund have no reason to be ashamed. I'm going to get up, leave this place with my head held high and let's see how the team finishes the season."

After winning 1-0 in the first leg, Dortmund marched to England with high confidence. The German team has won 10 consecutive matches since the 2022 World Cup, while Chelsea is going through a bad series of matches. However, two goals from Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz helped Chelsea win 2-0, and win tickets to the quarterfinals with a final score of 2-1.

The home team's goal came from a penalty situation, after reluctant defender Marius Wolf let the ball touch his hand in the penalty area. Initially, Havertz kicked the post out. But after a few minutes of waiting for VAR to check, referee Danny Makkelie let Chelsea do it again because Dortmund midfielder Niklas Sule entered the box before the kick was taken.

The Guardian called it Makkelie's "brave and correct" decision. Havertz made no mistake in the second shot to seal the victory for the home team. After the final whistle sounded, the Dortmund players turned to the referee again to complain.

"The first and second legs were both dramatic and evenly matched," commented Terzic. "In this match, the little details, the moments that made the difference and decided the team to advance. Of course, there were times when Dortmund were unlucky. That's part of football, we are all. no complaints. I think both teams deserved to go through. But Chelsea scored two goals and we didn't score any."

The Chelsea - Dortmund match took place 10 minutes later than expected, the cause is believed to be because the bus carrying the away team was stuck on the way to the field. Terzic admitted that he and his students were upset because they had not been informed about the delay in the match. "We were on the pitch for 15 minutes but nobody came to say that," said the German coach.