Monday, December 6th, 2021
“What is happening right now?”
The “absolute shit” of Gladbach
By Till Erdenberger
SC Freiburg travels to Borussia Mönchengladbach with two daunting series. But at the end of a memorable evening there is a historic victory for the Breisgau footballers. And the next bitter slap for Borussia Mönchengladbach. Both sides are amazed.
At the end of a historic evening, not everyone involved was proud to have made their way into the history books of the Bundesliga. SC Freiburg had won 6-0 at Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Freiburg scored six goals in 43 minutes. An incredible humiliation for Borussia. “What kind of shit is going on here right now?”, He asked himself, reported Max Eberl afterwards. And the creator of the Bundesliga team added: “You think: ‘Five weeks ago we won 5-0 against Bayern here.'” At that time it was 5-0 at halftime. But this time everything went in the other direction in record time. Down the drain.
After four minutes Gladbach was behind with two goals, after 25 minutes with five and at half time the half dozen were full, for the first time six different players had entered the goalscorer list in one half. Even the lightning 5-0 was a Bundesliga record. In 58 years of the Bundesliga, no away team has shot such a high lead faster. The last time it was 6-0 at halftime was 1978: in the legendary 12-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach against Borussia Dortmund. The highest victory in Bundesliga history. The fact that things did not get worse on Sunday evening in Borussia-Park had something to do with a gracious SC Freiburg and also with the fact that Borussia Mönchengladbach evidently developed at least an idea of resilience and will during the break.
“Absolute shit”
In the end, however, there was perplexity and a portion of self-contempt: “I would like to apologize for our demeanor. That is unacceptable,” said the Austrian. Hütter continues: “Right now I’m incredibly disappointed, especially for the fans. We disappointed them.” Or as Patrick Herrmann, who came on after almost half an hour, put it in a nutshell: “We played an absolute shit and a catastrophe!”
What the foals, who were still the last sixteen in the Champions League last season under Marco Rose, delivered in the first half caused heads to shake on both sides. “That was surreal,” said Freiburg defender Nico Schlotterbeck and tried to explain. “Gladbach hardly got into the duels and suddenly it was 6-0.” The national player successfully practiced euphemisms, because the Gladbachers trotted along seemingly indifferent from the start, refused almost every duel and let the guests have their way. “Why don’t we defend ourselves, why do we fall into such lethargy?” Manager Max Eberl asked himself after a few minutes. The TV pictures showed the decline of confidence and faith from the Gladbacher Bank in the republic at the gate. A flip book of horror.
Schlotterbeck’s coach Christian Streich found everything “almost a bit bizarre.” At DAZN, the coach, who had previously seen his team defeat three times in a row, said: “Every action we took has resulted in goals. That cannot be explained. The team played bravely, we decided to play like that. We have been rewarded for this. “
Coach discussion “absurd”
Streich is right, after a bitter series of defeats, his team had a lot of verve and courage. And could be sure of the support of the opponent. “Freiburg plays the balls in great, we know that. But we didn’t call, didn’t go off. They didn’t have to make any effort to clean them up,” said Herrmann angrily. It conceded four goals according to standards. One more than before in the entire season combined. For Gladbach, in addition to the naked record numbers, there is a bad blow in the neck, which is bigger. After the 1.4 pack in the derby at 1. FC Köln, it is the next dramatic bankruptcy that is more painful than a normal Bundesliga defeat.
“I’m really speechless,” agreed midfielder Jonas Hofmann join the loud choir of the speechless at the DAZN microphone. “Anyone who thought last week that it couldn’t go any deeper has been taught better today.”
Will something start to slip in the long term with the traditional club, which is now on a disappointing 13th place, with higher demands? At least Adi Hütter, the coach that Max Eberl had brought in before the season for 7.5 million euros as the successor to Marco Rose who had emigrated, should not be the sole culprit. “We have decided on a common path,” said Eberl, calling questions about possible consequences for Hütter as “absurd”. “If everything in football is questioned after two defeats, I can’t do anything with it. We decided with full conviction for Adi Hütter, and we are now going through thick and thin together.”
Next to fellow sufferers
On a dramatic evening, Hütter himself had no answers or solutions: “Before the Cologne game, we were on a very good path,” said Hütter, who, astonishingly, stood in front of his team again. “Because of this result we now have to show a reaction against Freiburg,” said Hütter after the terrible 1: 4 at arch-rivals 1. FC Köln and was bitterly disappointed. “None of us have experienced that before. I have no explanation for that.”
His team has to travel to RB Leipzig next weekend. A team with similar problems and without the new head coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired just before the season. He had to leave at the weekend because he had only collected 18 points. Not enough for Leipzig, just as many as Borussia Mönchengladbach.
The social media department of Borussia Mönchengladbach announced 17 games before the game that they were unbeaten at home against SC Freiburg, “as long as currently against any other club”. A big series ended on Sunday evening. It was historic. Afterwards everyone was amazed.