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Coach Marco Rose’s team is despite a defeat at the “Royal” in the next round. The game begins with an early backhand. But then the team increases.
Take a deep breath at Borussia Mönchengladbach: the “colts” have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in “group of death” B. Despite a 2-0 defeat in the group’s decisive match At Real Madrid, coach Marco Rose’s team is in the next round, because Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk split 0-0 in parallel play at the same time. Karim Benzema (9th, 32nd) bankrupted the guests with a double pack.
After the final whistle in Madrid, the guests had to survive a few anxious minutes, because they were still playing in Milan and the team kept seeing injury time on the field on their iPhone. “Crazy, crazy,” cheered Captain Lars Stindl on DAZN. “It was actually our weakest match in the preliminary round and we are still going through it. We deserved it with our previous good performances. Exceptional.”
A little later, the proud coach Rose spoke hoarsely: “We deserve to be in the round of 16 with eight points in this difficult group. We scored against all the opponents. I am very, very proud of the team and very happy for ours. The fans and the club, we could do something like Borussia Mönchengladbach. “
Initial nervous phase
In the previous competition, the European Champions Cup, the five-time champion from Germany had always reached the round of 16 in the 1970s.
After 14 competitive matches in a row with at least one goal, the Niederrhein eleven left this time empty-handed. However, Borussia will be in the round of 16 on Monday and can also expect more revenue of 9.5 million euros, on top of the around 32 million euros earned so far. Rose and her players would have liked to have won this with a brave appearance in the 13-time winner of “Henkelpott.” But the Gladbachers were too nervous for that Wednesday.
Gladbachers were too passive and hesitant
Before kickoff, Rose wanted to set an example with her training. In Captain Lars Stindl, Champions League top scorer Alassane Plea, Marcus Thuram and Breel Embolo, all of their offensive power was used to set the direction. “That is what defines us. We want to stay with ourselves,” the Borussia coach said before the game on DAZN.
In addition, he promised stability for the last defensive defense of the starting eleven that Nico Elvedi returns. After a ten-day injury hiatus, the Swiss center-back returned to the starting lineup in the preliminary round, but he did not look very fit and allowed Rodrygo to cross Rodrygo before Benzema’s second goal. In general, Gladbachers were too passive and hesitant in crucial situations.
After less than ten minutes, captain Stindl made a poor pass in preparation, leading Real Madrid to an all-too-easy lead from striker Benzema. “We need superior performance. We have to keep Real busy and set tasks,” Rose said. This was unsuccessful. Instead, nerves often failed, for example, when Plea, who was so precise at the end, launched an independent counterattack next to the goal (25th).
After the break, the pink elf grew stronger.
The Real, however, with the returned captain Sergio Ramos could not be compared with the team that recently was so criticized and had been put under pressure in the Champions League. This time, the premier class winner’s record performed exactly as the 34-time champion of Spain had previously announced. “For us, only victory counts,” said Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, who should have feared for his position if Real Madrid missed the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time.
Gladbach’s weakened defense, however, approached him and Real. After half an hour Benzema was again too free to go. The forward did not miss this.
After the change, Rose made another tactical change and brought in Valentino Lazaro and Denis Zakaria for Oscar Wendt and the disappointing Embolo. Gladbach grew stronger, but was unlucky in attack. That didn’t matter after the anxious final minutes and the sight of Milan at the end. The victory also saved Real a historical misfortune. Coach Zinedine Zidane’s team threatened to finish the preliminary round for the first time in its 25th appearance in the Champions League.
