Our next opponents: Relaunch for coach and team

Position

Borussia Mönchengladbach kicked off the new season with a spectacular game: In a 4-4 draw at FC Augsburg, both the hosts and the visitors provided the spectators with top football entertainment. Borussia twice squandered two-goal leads. And they were in danger of losing at the end. New signing Tomas Cvancara rescued a point for the Foals with a penalty seven minutes into added time. A crazy game after which new coach Gerardo Seoane announced a long post-match analysis. "If you let in four goals away then you can't be happy as a coach," said the Swiss who did however find one definite positive. "Compliments to the team for their morale as they tried to come back right to the end."

And Roland Virkus, Borussia's sporting managing director, saw good signs in the first Bundesliga match of the new season. "The players had good team spirit and showed that they want to and can fight back." The management expected that it would take time. Seoane "It can be bumpy at the start. We know we need to be patient." There have been a lot of changes in the Gladbach squad.

The Foals easily overcame their first hurdle in the DFB-Pokal. They clocked up a 7-0 victory away to Oberliga side TuS Bersenbrück. And given the fact that the last three away games at FC Augsburg had all been lost, the point gained in the league opener was taken as a good omen.

Personnel

Gerardo Seoane was the coach under the Bayer Cross a year ago before being replaced by Xabi Alonso in October 2022. The 44-year-old manager is now charged with reviving fortunes on the Lower Rhine. Like RB Leipzig, opening opponents for the Werkself last weekend, Borussia have lost four regular starters who were enormously important to the club. Captain Lars Stindl (Karlsruher FC), who scored three goals in the two games against Bayer 04 last season, has left as has Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Dortmund), top striker Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan) and top provider and scorer Jonas Hofmann who is now with the Werkself and looking forward to a reunion with his former teammates. The quartet were involved in 39 of Borussia's 52 goals last term.

Gladbach signed the Frenchman Franck Honorat from Stade Brest as the successor to Hofmann. The 27-year-old winger is considered to be an outstanding provider and has plenty of pace. The latter quality also applies to Nathan Ngoumou, who joined Borussia in the summer of 2022, but often only came on as a substitute last season. The Frenchman was one of the winners of the preseason with four goals in six friendlies. The 23-year-old netted a goal in Augsburg and once again showed that he is one of the fastest players in the league. Ngoumou clocked up 34.7 kmph at FCA and was only beaten on the first matchday in terms of top speed by Bayern's Kingsley Coman (34.9 kmph). Thomas Cvancara, a new signing from Sparta Prague, made an impressive start up front for the Foals. The 1.90 m tall Czechia international scored a brace in the 7-0 win in the DFB-Pokal against Bersenbrück as well as in the Bundesliga opener in Augsburg.

The average age of the Borussia squad has been much reduced. Talented youngsters like defender Fabio Chiarodia (18, Werder Bremen), Lukas Ullrich (19, Hertha Berlin) and striker Grant-Leon Ranos (20, Bayern Munich), bring great potential. In contrast, Maximilian Wöber has plenty of experience. Borussia Mönchengladbach have brought the 25-year-old central defender and Austria international in on loan from Leeds United for a season following their relegation from the Premier League. And key players such as goalkeeper and captain Jonas Omlin plus the midfielders Julian Weigl and Florian Neuhaus will have to take over responsibility after departure of long-standing leaders Stindl and Hofmann. Christoph Kramer, also a key element of the team hierarchy, will miss the game against his former club Bayer 04. The 32-year-old is currently training on his own after coming back from a knee injury. Seoane will also have to manage without Manu Koné on Saturday (rehab after knee injury).

Performers

Lots of pace down the flanks and a real poacher up front: Borussia have not lost anything in terms of quality in attack. The front three of Honorat, Ngoumou and Cvancara were like clockwork in the first two games. Behind them, Alassane Plea, Julian Weigl and Florian Neuhaus have impressed as providers. Gladbach demonstrated their efficiency in finishing above all at Augsburg when they scored three goals from their first three chances. The Foals were really strong at home at Borussia Park last season, picking up 33 out of a possible 43 points. They only lost four games in front of their own fans – including the 3-2 reverse against Bayer 04 in January of this year.

Problems

The free-for-all in Augsburg demonstrated where there is room for improvement. The Foals defence made anything but a solid impression. "We've seen we have a lot of potential in defence – not only individually but also as a collective," said Roland Virkus in describing the problem. The sporting managing director has understandably called for patience with the newly formed team. Players like left-back Luca Netz (20), who did not have a good game at Augsburg, received backing from Virkus: "We say we always want to develop young players. Then we have to give them time as it's normal for young players to make mistakes."

Prediction

After two disappointing seasons, that both ended with a tenth-place finish, Gladbach are looking to move on up again. Gerardo Seoane has the task of achieving an upward trend with a team changed in lots of positions. The Swiss coach can revive teams as he proved with the Werkself with the return to the Champions League in 2021/22. Now he is looking to "build something" at Mönchengladbach and he wants to play "constructive, brave and honest football." Good results at the start of the season would be helpful to get into a rhythm.

The Foals do have great respect for their next opponents. "For me, Leverkusen are possibly the team with the biggest potential in the Bundesliga after FC Bayern," said Virkus ahead of the clash with Bayer 04 and he sees his own team as underdogs on Saturday. "That's the way it is. But that role can sometimes help and we've definitely got the potential to cause them problems." And they have a coach who knows the opponents inside out.