Borussia Dortmund have confirmed that they have appointed Lucien Favre as their new head coach. The Swiss national returns to the Bundesliga after coaching French club Nice for the past two seasons.Borrussia Dortmund issued a statement on Monday in which the club confirmed the long-rumored appointment of Lucien Favre as head coach. It said Favre had signed a contract that is to keep him at the club through the end of the 2019-20 season.
Favre, 60, joins Dortmund from Ligue 1 club Nice, which he guided to a third place finish in 2016-17 before falling back to eighth this past season — failing to qualify for Europe by a single point.
The Swiss coach is no stranger to the Bundesliga, having coached both Hertha Berlin and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Favre led Hertha to a fourth-place finish in 2008-09 and saved Gladbach from relegation after taking over the club at the bottom of the table in February 2011. He also led the Foals to a fourth-place finish a season later.
“The appointment of Lucien Favre as coach is an important aspect of our fresh sporting start this summer,” BVB’s sporting director, Michael Zorc, said. “He’s highly regarded by us for the technical qualities that he demonstrated in impressive style many times throughout his spells with Hertha BSC and Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga, and more recently with Nice.”
“Coaching Borussia Dortmund is an exciting task that I’m delighted to take on,” Favre said. “BVB is one of the most interesting clubs in Europe and I’m looking forward to returning to the Bundesliga, which I know extremely well and always kept an eye on during my two years in Nice.”
Favre replaces Peter Stöger, whose contract, which ran until the end of this past season, was not extended.
