The German Football Association (DFB) has fined Borussia Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp 10,000 euros after he was sent to the stands during Saturday's 2-1 defeat against Borussia Moenchengladbach.
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Klopp was sent to the stands during injury time following several arguments with both the referee Deniz Aytekin and the fourth official. A report field by Aytekin afterwards said Klopp’s behaviour had been “rude on several occasions.”
On Monday afternoon, the DFB announced that Klopp has been fined 10,000 euros because of “unsporting behaviour", with the Dortmund coach immediately accepting the fine.
The incident meant that Klopp did not see the end of the match for the eighth time in his career.
He has now been sent off three times in the Bundesliga, and a further three times in the second tier during his time at Mainz. He also was sent off in a German cup tie, and during the first Champions League game of the season against Napoli.
“I have often been rightly punished in my career but not this time. I only shouted: ‘And you don’t whistle that?’, albeit with my by now worldwide trademark look on my face: He can’t send me off for that,” Klopp told the post-match news conference on Saturday.
Klopp has been backed by the club’s CEO Aki Watzke, who said. “In this matter, I must come to Klopp’s defence 100 percent. He did not insult anyone. What Klopp has done, 17 other coaches in the league also do.”
The German media, however, has been highly critical of Klopp’s behaviour, with NRZ claiming that the Dortmund boss had learned nothing and that he “will never have the professional manner that the likes of [Hertha Berlin coach] Jos Luhukay or [Gladbach coach] Lucien Favre possess.”
On Wednesday, the Dortmund coach will be on the touchline as Dortmund hope to qualify for the Champions League quarter finals in their home match against Zenit St. Petersburg.
Going into the second leg of the last 16 clash with a 4-2 lead, Borussia Dortmund appear to have a comfortable lead, but Robert Lewandowski has warned against complacency.
“The situation is comparable to right before the first leg,” he said. “We had lost 3-0 at Hamburg, this time we lost 2-1 against Gladbach. We are not through yet. We must be careful against Zenit. Should we play like today, it will not be easy.”
Dortmund will be boosted by the return of creative midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who was suspended on Saturday, and Germany international Marco Reus, who has been sidelined with muscular problems in recent weeks, is also in contention.
“We have hope,” Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc told kicker when asked about the chances of Reus making a comeback.