Nils Petersen hammers Kovač's Dortmund for 'chasing the game' in Norway

Nils Petersen has delivered a withering verdict on Borussia Dortmund's 1-0 Champions League defeat at Bodø/Glimt, accusing Niko Kovač's much-changed side of spending the night "chasing the game" in Norway.

The former SC Freiburg and Bayern Munich striker, working as a pundit for DAZN, said the Bundesliga giants simply failed to show up in the first half at the Aspmyra Stadion.

"In the first-half, BVB obviously didn't do enough. There wasn't much going forward and not much defending either," Petersen said. "Dortmund really spent a lot of time chasing the game. Bodø/Glimt could actually have been leading at half-time."

Kovač had made five changes to his starting eleven from the previous Friday, and Petersen felt those alterations left Dortmund short of both ideas and intensity in the opening period.

Far from improving after the interval, the visitors got worse. "The Norwegians [Bodø/Glimt] came out of half-time like a firework display and deservedly took the lead," Petersen stated.

Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovač reacts during the Champions League defeat to Bodø/Glimt

Only after falling behind did the Bundesliga team "wake up" and "catch up in terms of shots on goal" — but nothing more, as Petersen took aim at Kovač's handling of the game.

"From a coach's view, I understand giving the lads another ten or fifteen minutes so they can present themselves differently or better," he said. "But ultimately, the first five minutes after the break already showed that nothing changed. On the contrary: Bodø/Glimt even got stronger. In hindsight, you can say that you might have missed your chance. After today's game, he knows who he can rely on and who he can't."

The one clear positive for Kovač, in Petersen's eyes, was the impact of his substitutes. "The four players who came on have earned a place in the starting lineup," he said of Julian Ryerson, Felix Nmecha, Ethan Nwaneri and Serhou Guirassy.

Dortmund's defeat leaves the club searching for answers ahead of their return to domestic action, with Petersen's assessment adding further pressure on a coach whose heavy rotation in Norway ultimately backfired.