Dortmund is actually far from falling into the relegation zone because of the point gap between them and their teams currently in that zone. They may have played poorly in the past and a lot of them already making it look like they can’t stand a chance in the fight for an Europe spot next season. I still think they will want to try as I see their journey in the champions league is already coming to an end. They can at least get a spot in the European competition next season if they try more but I don’t see them in the champions league next season when they get eliminated from the competition now.
You are right. Given their poor performance and lack of consistency, it is unlikely that Dortmund will qualify for Champions League football next season, their struggles in both attack and defense coupled with dropped points against weaker opposition have severely impacted their position in the league table, unless they show a dramatic improvement in forms and results securing a top four finish appears to be out of reach.
I don't know what the plans of Niko Kovac is, if the target is to win the Champions League so that they will qualify automatically or he still care about making it to top four in the league table. If the later is the case, it is really disappointing how the lose matches carelessly this season, even some matches they ought to win. Yesterday should be one of their worst disgrace because they played at home against Augsburg that have been very terrible at away this season. Irrespective of their champions league outing, they were supposed to win that match, it will just require Niko Kovac knowing how to use the players to achieve all he needed to achieve.