Our next opponents: Gladbach sticking together after heavy defeat

Position

Tuesday’s 5-1 defeat at Wolfsburg was Gladbach’s heaviest of the season. They played alright in the first half and were perhaps even the better team after going behind to a third-minute penalty. However, the Foals lacked a finisher in front of goal in the absence of striker Tim Kleindienst (ill) and winger Franck Honorat (foot). Seoane was critical of his team for how they fell apart in the second half: “I just can’t understand it. We lost our heads after going 2-0 down and also showed mental weakness alongside a physical collapse. It means the result really hurts.” Captain Julian Weigl was equally unimpressed: “It’s tough to describe what happened in the second half. We gave away the goals too easily. We were too passive and gave Wolfsburg too much space.” The Wolves took full advantage and added three more goals in the final 15 minutes. Shio Fukuda got little more than a consolation just before full-time.

It was a second defeat in the space of four days for Borussia after they opened the year with a 1-0 defeat at home to Bayern. That game saw a much better defensive display, although they again struggled going forward. The Foals come into Matchday 18 and the start of the second half of the season on 24 points – the most any team sitting 11th has ever had at this stage since the introduction of three points for a win 30 years ago. Gladbach enjoyed a good spell that saw them climb up to sixth in mid-November during a run of five wins out of nine games between Matchday 7 and 15 (D3, L1). Nevertheless, the gap to a potential European spot is still only four points, so Borussia won’t want to dwell too long on their two defeats this year. “We need to shake it off. I’m sure it’s not affected us much as a group because I believe we have a very homogeneous team,” Weigl affirmed.

Personnel

Saturday’s visitors to the BayArena will likely have Kleindienst available again after his upset stomach. However, ex-Werkself boss Seoane will still be without right winger Honorat. The 28-year-old Frenchman is Gladbach’s top provider alongside Kleindienst with four assists each but hasn’t played yet in 2025 because of a foot injury. Apart from that, the Swiss coach has a full squad at his disposal as he returns to Leverkusen. Moritz Nicolas has become the first-choice goalkeeper ahead of club captain Jonas Omlin, marshalling a defence that will almost certainly include Nico Elvedi, Ko Itakura and Joe Scally. Weigl, Philipp Sander and Rocco Reitz have occupied the midfield of late, with Kleindienst flanked by Alassane Plea and Robin Hack.

Problems

“We’ve been very solid, especially in defence, in recent weeks,” said Weigl, but Gladbach looked unusually susceptible in defence in the latter stages against Wolfsburg. The Foals seemed unable to deal with the Wolves’ quick transitions. “When you concede five, you’ve got to ask yourself what you did wrong. There’s a lot we need to work on,” added Hack looking ahead to their visit to the BayArena, where Borussia will likely once again need to work hard defensively. “We need to stay together as a team and show that Wolfsburg was just a blip,” Weigl demanded.

Gladbach have also had issues in attack in the first two games of the year, scoring just once despite some promising moves and chances. Honorat’s runs out wide and deliveries into the box have been sorely missed.

Performers

Honorat has formed a prolific partnership with summer signing Kleindienst. The Frenchman is hugely important for the Foals out wide, while the latter has become a full Germany international this season thanks to his nine Bundesliga goals over the first 17 matchdays, which places him fifth in the division scoring chart. The 29-year-old centre-forward also netted on the opening weekend of 2024/25 against the Werkself, making it 2-2 late on before Florian Wirtz earned a 3-2 win from the penalty spot in the 11th minute of added time at Borussia-Park. Kleindienst also does his bit defensively, providing an energetic first line of pressing and helping at set pieces.