With the last international break over, the BVB players are entering the final stretch of the year: the first of eight games in 25 days will take place on Saturday when Borussia Mönchengladbach visit SIGNAL IDUNA PARK (kick-off at 15:30 CET).

Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB-Pokal: Borussia Dortmund will be challenged in all competitions in the final weeks of the year. The next game is against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with the Black & Yellows targeting an improved performance following the 2-0 defeat in Stuttgart two weeks ago. The analysis of the game already started after the final whistle, but is only now being finalised due to the absence of the internationals. Fourteen BVB players have been away on duty with their national teams over the last one and a half weeks. Felix Nmecha, who was also called up, withdrew from international duty with Germany due to a hip injury. He won’t play for BVB again this year either.

Following the return of all the internationals, BVB coach Edin Terzic will discuss the Stuttgart game with his players once again. “Then it’s about drawing the right conclusions and showing them too. We’ll have the chance to do so in the game against Gladbach.” Terzic expects “that we’ll go into the game in a completely different way. That we won’t need a wake-up call in the form of conceding a goal or an opposition penalty, but that we’ll be present from the start.” The coach is expecting the kind of performance his team had produced at home to Newcastle a few days earlier. In that match, it was “clear how we want to play football. We expect that from everyone on Saturday.”

Successful home games against Gladbach

The Borussia from the Lower Rhine will travel to the Ruhr in ninth place. After taking only two points from their first five games of the season, Borussia Mönchengladbach have picked up 11 from their six matches since and, with 13 points in total, are now back in the top half of the table for the first time since the opening day. “They’ve not only integrated several new signings, but also have a new coach. Then it sometimes takes longer than the six weeks of pre-season,” said Terzic. “If you look at the most recent performances and results, they’re on a very good and stable path. They’ve recently played with a back three rather than a back four.” In the last Bundesliga match against VfL Wolfsburg in particular, which Mönchengladbach won by a 4-0 scoreline, “you see what this team is capable of. We’re aware of the strength of the opposition. But we also know that we’ve looked good in home games against Gladbach in the past.”

BVB have won their last 10 home games against the Foals in all competitions. The last two meetings at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK have been especially high-scoring: a 5-2 victory for the Black & Yellows in May of this year followed a 6-0 win in February 2022. The game against Mönchengladbach is the first in a block of eight games up until the end of the year. Terzic said: “This period will be intensive and must start with a really good performance from us.”
Christina Reinke

BVB TV by 1&1: The press conference prior to the game against Mönchengladbach