Football Further

‘Bundesliga’

“The Foals had begun their campaign with a shock 1-0 win at Bayern’s Allianz Arena in August, but the context then was very different. Gladbach started the season as relegation candidates, having narrowly escaped the drop last term, and the win was only their second away success over Bayern in the league in the club’s history. Five months later, they are just a point off top spot and chasing a place in the Champions League.”

This week’s Pitchside Europe blog for Eurosport examines how Lucien Favre has transformed Borussia Mönchengladbach from relegation fodder to Bundesliga title contenders in the space of just 11 months. You can read it here.

“Having successfully prised Manuel Neuer from Schalke in the summer, Bayern – who host Dortmund in their next league game – see Götze as an ideal long-term replacement for the increasingly injury-prone Arjen Robben and, characteristically, they have made no attempt to disguise their admiration. The problem for Bayern, however, is that the object of their affections does not seem to concur with their lofty self-regard.”

My latest Pitchside Europe column for Eurosport, on Borussia Dormund’s Mario Götze, can be read here.