Berlin (AFP)

Lucien Favre, sacked Sunday by Borussia Dortmund after a 5-1 defeat, has never succeeded in shaking off a tenacious suspicion: that of not having known how to give "a soul" to an otherwise talented team.

The humiliation at home against the promoted Stuttgart on Saturday was therefore the last match of the 63-year-old Swiss coach, replaced "until the end of the season" by his assistant Edin Terzic, according to a tweet from the club.

The 38-year-old German will have to lead the Champions League campaign, with Borussia qualifying for the round of 16.

But the situation will also have to be quickly rectified in the Bundesliga, where the team is in 5th place five points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

Favre's brutal dismissal is partially surprising, as his leaders seemed to support him in recent weeks against all attacks.

"It was very difficult for us to make this decision," admitted sporting director Michael Zorc, "but we believe that the recent negative developments are putting our goals for the season in jeopardy and that we should react."

Borussia have taken just four points from their last five league games, and have just scored three consecutive losses at home.

- "Limited register" -

Favre, quoted by the daily Bild, obviously did not accept the decision: "I find it very unfortunate that our paths separate", he blurted out.

"We have had two very successful years and we have a team that could have done well again this season. I am absolutely convinced of that."

Arrived in the Ruhr in 2018, the Swiss have never been unanimous.

On the light side, he had the image of a fine football technician, an excellent trainer for the young shoots that flourish in Dortmund.

Shadow side, his speech, his body language, and especially his sawtooth results gave arguments to those who criticized him, from the start, for being unable to transcend his players.

In two seasons, the former Nice coach has grown the talent of several very young players such as Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland, Achraf Hakimi or Giovanni Reyna.

But he finished twice second in the championship behind Bayern Munich, and did not go beyond the knockout stages of the Champions League.

"Favre's register is limited: he lacks the verbal and emotional means to titillate the team, to push it or even to anger it," Kicker magazine, the German football Bible, said in November 2019.

- Shadow of Klopp -

The scenario of the Bundesliga 2018-2019, the first season of Favre, had lead to the image of the Swiss.

The team had squandered a nine-point lead acquired in December.

During the "chase", Bayern managers and players had adopted an aggressive and conquering speech, while Dortmund had kept a low profile, emphasizing the youth of the team and its lack of experience.

So much so that officials and the coach first seemed to excuse - "provoke", some said - the end-of-season collapse, which had allowed the Bavarian ogre to grab the title, his seventh in a row. .

If he did indeed dig his own grave, Favre also had the misfortune of arriving at a club that never recovered from the departure of ... Jürgen Klopp (2008-2015).

The current Liverpool coach, the last German champion with Dortmund in 2012, passionate and charismatic, was the antithesis of Favre.

And presented the ideal profile to communicate with the mythical "Yellow Wall" and the tens of thousands of Borussia fans.

"The BVB problem is called Jürgen Klopp", the daily Tagesspiegel said last season, in an article already devoted to Favre's problems: "The BVB has never been happy with a coach since departure of Klopp ".

And the newspaper added, lucidly: "The cerebral Favre does not really agree well with the so emotional environment of Dortmund".

© 2020 AFP