Manchester City have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, comfortably seeing off Borussia Monchengladbach 4-0 on aggregate. The Bundesliga side came into the game needing an astonishing comeback, having lost the first leg 2-0. It was almost the perfect start for Pep Guardiola’s side, who went close in the seventh minute through Phil Foden. Joao Cancelo floated a ball over the top for the youngster, but his poked effort was saved by Yann Sommer. Five minutes later, Man City found the breakthrough in spectacular fashion. Riyad Mahrez laid off for Kevin De Bruyne, who unleashed an unstoppable left footed strike in off the crossbar. Not long afterwards, it was 2-0. Foden weaved a through ball to Ilkay Gundogan, who slotted home for his 15th goal of the season. For the rema...
Clubs in the top two tiers of German football suffered a drop of 5.7% revenue in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may lead to increased pressure on Bundesliga clubs in the summer transfer window to sell some of their prized assets. Football in Germany was brought to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, with over a quarter of the season still left to play. The leagues eventually restarted again in May, with all games being played behind closed doors. Bundesliga matches have been played without spectators for the last year The new season kicked off in the middle of September, with spectators still not allowed back into stadiums. This has hampered the revenues of many clubs across the German leagues. The 18 Bundesliga clubs generated revenue of €3.8 billion for the 2019/...
Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City meet in the Champions League knockout stage for the first time on Wednesday. Monchengladbach will not enjoy the privilege of playing at Borussia-Park. Due to the ongoing restrictions imposed on English travellers, the encounter will be staged at Puskas Arena in Budapest. Gladbach’s wobble on various fronts continued last weekend as they succumbed to a shocking 2-1 loss to relegation-threatened Mainz 05. The Foals have now failed to win four of their previous five competitive fixtures (D2, L2), including the last four. It is not the kind of statistic Marco Rose’s side will be looking to dwell on ahead of their meeting with one of the best European teams at the moment. A 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League back in November 2020 was...
The shortlist for the Bundesliga’s Player of the Month award for December has been announced. The six-man shortlist is made up of two players from table-toppers Bayern Munich, another two from third-placed Bayer Leverkusen, and then one each from Borussia Monchengladbach and Freiburg. Here is a closer look at each of the nominees. Robert Lewandowski Lewandowski celebrates one of many, many goals Who’s shocked? I’m not. Robert Lewandowski once again starred for Bayern in the last month. After drawing a blank in the 3-3 draw against RB Leipzig, the Poland international netted the equaliser against Union Berlin, then bagged consecutive braces against Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen. He scored literally every goal for the Bavarians in those three games. Lewandowski will be looking for his secon...
After a curtailed winter break, the Bundesliga is back. The story of the season so far has been one of fairy-tale overachievement for some, spectacular underachievement for others, teams struggling to score, scoring at will and drama on and off the pitch. The Rückrunde is set to be no different. Here’s a preview to whet the appetite. The title race: new challengers? Despite Bayern Munich going into the Christmas break top of the Bundesliga table by two points and looking to win their ninth consecutive Meisterschale, this year could very well see other clubs knock them off the top spot. The Rekordmeister have certainly not been fully firing this term when you look at last season’s treble-winning campaign. Worries over Bayern’s pre-season squad depth have only intensified throughout th...
Manchester City have become the latest club to show interest in Borussia Monchengladbach defensive midfielder Denis Zakaria, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano. Zakaria joined Borussia Monchengladbach from Young Boys for a reported €10m in June 2017. Since then, he has become one of the most sought after midfielders in the Bundesliga, featuring 100 times in the last three seasons in all competitions. Zakaria has become one of Monchengladbach’s most vital players The Switzerland international has only recently returned from a long-term knee injury which has kept him out of contention since March, making just one start this season. The 24-year-old has attracted a lot of attention from a number of the world’s top clubs, with Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Chelsea all linked. ...
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has included Eden Hazard in the squad that will take on Borussia Monchengladbach. Hazard suffered a series of injuries in his campaign to life at Real Madrid, with ankle injuries hampering his performances. The Belgian attacker trained with the rest of the group on Sunday, as Real Madrid got back to work following El Clasico, and is now one of the 21 players in the midweek squad. The likes of Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Odriozola, as well as Nacho will miss out in the clash against Borussia Monchengladbach. Zidane will not count on Martin Odegaard and Mariano due to injury. The complete squad for the Borussia Monchengladbach trip is as follows: Thibaut Courtois, Andry Lunin, Diego Altube, Eder Militao, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Marcelo, Ferland Mendy, S...