Our next opponents: Hütter’s tricky decision at left-back

Position

There were divided opinions in Mönchengladbach after the opening game against Bayern Munich. On the one hand, Borussia could be fully satisfied with the performance and the 1-1 draw against the highly fancied record champions. "I'd normally be very happy with that," said skipper Lars Stindl after the game. But, on the other hand, there was more in it for a brave and energetic Gladbach side in the closing stages and they were disappointed not to be awarded at least one of two potential penalties. Stindl even called it "madness" and "a cheek." Feelings should have calmed down by now at Mönchengladbach – with the positives from the game coming to the fore. The first Bundesliga match under coach Adi Hütter showed that the Foals are definitely in with a chance this season after finishing eighth last term. His opening match in charge was also successful: A deserved if unexciting 1-0 at third division Kaiserslautern was enough to ensure progress to the second round of the DFB Cup.

Personnel

In principle, there was only one really big change during the summer break for Mönchengladbach – but it was not completely unimportant. After the departure of Marco Rose in the direction of Dortmund, sporting director Max Eberl pulled off a master stroke by signing Adi Hütter as the new head coach. He did not bring his tried and tested 3-4-2-1 formation with him from Eintracht Frankfurt but instead opted for a 4-2-3-1 line-up for his first two matches. There have not been many changes to the players required for that formation. The departure of experienced left-back Oscar Wendt was compensated for by the signing of Hertha talent Luca Netz, and midfielder Manu Koné, signed from Toulouse in the winter, has not yet played due to injury. Otherwise, departures and arrivals mainly covered squad players with the starting eleven made up exclusively of players who were at the club last season.

But one name is new to most people: Joe Scally. The 18-year-old American was brought to Mönchengladbach in January from New York City FC but last season he played exclusively for the reserve team in the Regional League West. Hütter has brought him into the senior squad and thrown him in at the deep end as the replacement for the injured left-back Ramy Bensebaini. Scally impressed against both Kaiserslautern and FC Bayern, which gives Hütter a tricky decision ahead of match against the Werkself. Bensebaini returned to full training on Monday and may well be ready for the meeting at the BayArena. It remains to be seen whether he will play the up to now indispensable Algerian as Hütter explicitly highlighted Scally's performance against FC Bayern: "I'm incredibly happy with his first Bundesliga match," said the Austrian. "He's earned extra praise."

Performers

In a balanced Gladbach team, it is the centre of defence that has the highest quality. Behind the strong pair of defensive midfielders Christoph Kramer and Florian Neuhaus, the central defensive partnership of Matthias Ginter and Nico Elvedi are a solid rearguard; Germany international Ginter won the highest number of challenges across the league last season. And behind them in goal is Yann Sommer. The keeper, who had an outstanding Euro 2020, shone in his opener against Bayern with several impressive saves. The Foals captain praised the performance of the Swiss afterwards describing it as "sensational."

Problems

Mönchengladbach can be very happy with the start of the season. But it is also clear there is need for some fine tuning under the new coach. The players at Gladbach are more focused on possession than those at Frankfurt and Hütter may have to adjust his ideas over the course of the season – especially when facing teams more defensively minded than FC Bayern. In the cup against Kaiserslautern for example, Gladbach found it difficult to create chances and produce pace down the flanks.

Prediction

A well-practised team plus a coach who has already demonstrated his qualities: A lot points towards improvement in comparison to last season (eighth place) for Mönchengladbach. And the performance in the opening match in Munich may give the Foals hope – as with the fact Borussia are only involved in two competitions in comparison with rivals who are playing in Europe. Mönchengladbach are definitely of capable of competing for a European finish – and if Borussia are able to hold onto their key players up to the end of the transfer window then the Champions League is not unrealistic.