Gladbach could have hauled themselves back into the Champions League race with a win against Leverkusen. Instead they fell to a defeat that effectively ends their seasonThe evening began with a show of respect from the visiting Borussia Mönchengladbach fans. It ended with anything but. As their players emerged on to the BayArena pitch to face Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, Gladbach’s 4,000 travelling fans held aloft black pieces of plastic, creating a tifo in memory of well-known fan Waltraud “Walli” Hamraths, who recently died at the age of 83.In the circumstances, Gladbach’s players shouldn’t have been surprised at what happened at the end. They were, again, hugely disappointing in a match in which they had the opportunity to haul themselves...
The Austrian could not be doing more to remain as manager, with his side now looking as if they have put in a shiftOn other weekends, it would have been a cause for glumness. Yet even in falling a place below bitter rivals Schalke, from second to third, it felt as if it had been a fairly successful day for Borussia Dortmund. They emerged from Saturday evening’s Topspiel at RB Leipzig not only with a point – and having maintained a three-point lead over their hosts in the race for Champions League qualification – but with the satisfying feeling of having put in a shift.They can be few things that their coach, Peter Stöger, cherishes as much as this. Many...
After a season close to the abyss, Bayer Leverkusen’s rebuilding job has begun in earnest this season and is slowly showing signs of promiseFor a long time, we’ve known exactly what Bayer Leverkusen are about. They impress, they entertain, they qualify for Europe and achieve to a certain level without actually getting it over the line. The old ‘Neverkusen’ epithet from the Klaus Toppmöller days has endured well. Last season, and the summer that followed, changed all that. The Roger Schmidt era, which had given Die Werkself a firm on-pitch identity, fell to pieces and the club dropped the ball badly in appointing Tayfun Korkut as his successor – at exactly the point where a strong personality was needed to...
A 5-0 thrashing at Dortmund could have been worse, even with a dubious VAR decision, and there are already fears of a situation spinning out of controlJörg Schmadtke rushed out to the Sky truck in the TV compound to pore over every possible angle – and to check his eyes weren’t deceiving him. By that point, the Köln sporting director had already been on the Signal Iduna Park pitch, shoulder to shoulder with the coach, Peter Stöger, protesting to the referee, Patrick Ittrich, over the award by VAR of Borussia Dortmund’s second goal. Before any more fingers start pointing at Effzee about an anarchic end to a chaotic week, we should add that this was a reasonable moment for both...
Die Werkself secured their Bundesliga future with a derby draw against Köln, but coach Tayfun Korkut is already on his way … and key players could followIn a Bundesliga season full of surprises, this was not one of them. Bayer Leverkusen, as has become habitual in recent weeks, did just enough to avoid the doomsday scenario and in this case, enough to take a crucial point in Saturday’s derby with Köln. They remain only three points above the relegation play-off spot but with current occupants Hamburg and next-worst Wolfsburg playing each other on the final day, Die Werkself will again be a top-flight club next season.It is quite surreal that having to state that has become necessary but if Leverkusen’s...