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BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH HANDS BAYERN WORST DEFEAT SINCE 1978

Borussia Monchengladbach sensationally struck three times in the opening 21 minutes to demolish German champions Bayern Munich 5-0 on Wednesday and dump them out of the German Cup second round.

Gladbach’s dream start yielded two goals from Ramy Bensebaini and one from Kouadio Kone to put them in the driving seat before Breel Embolo struck twice early in the second half to kill off the game.

They became the first team to score five goals against the mighty Bavarians since Borussia Dortmund’s 5-2 win in the 2012 German Cup final, and the first ever team to score three goals in the first 21 minutes against Bayern in a German Cup game.

It was also the first time Bayern Munich lost a game by five or more goals since Dec. 9, 1978 against Fortuna Düsseldorf (7-1) in the Bundesliga.

“I am absolutely shocked,” said Bayern sports director Hasan Salihamidzic. “We were just not there. We did not win a single tackle or challenge in the entire first half.

“Everything that could go wrong went wrong. Gladbach did it really well. We were absolutely not there. A blackout. It should not have happened to us in such a way.”

The Bavarians, who have scored a record 33 goals in nine league games and have added another 12 goals without conceding any in three Champions League matches, were the overwhelming favourites.

They needed just 80 seconds to open their account with Kone pouncing on a sloppy pass by Bayern’s Alphonso Davies to beat keeper Manuel Neuer.

With the Bayern defence in complete disarray, the hosts should have scored again with Jonas Hofmann and Embolo coming close as the defensive efforts by the visitors piled up.

Gladbach did it better in the 15th, outplaying the static Bayern backline for Bensebaini to thunder a Hofmann cutback past Neuer.

Before they had any time to recover Lucas Hernandez, who earlier on Wednesday had seen a six-month prison sentence suspended in Spain, clumsily brought down Embolo in the box and Bensebaini sent Neuer the wrong way with an audacious spot kick to make it 3-0.

With Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann confined to his home after testing positive for COVID-19, assistant coach Dino Topmoeller had to wait until the second half to see some decent attacks from his players, who have netted a record 33 times in their first nine league games.

But before they even got into any rhythm, Gladbach struck again with Embolo beating two defenders, who let a high ball bounce between them, to slot the ball in through the legs of Neuer.

The Swiss bagged his second goal of the evening in the 57th, finding far too much space once more to score their fifth off the post.

The shocking result also snapped Bayern’s 85-game scoring streak, the longest such stretch for any team in Europe’s top-five leagues during the time.

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XABI ALONSO TO BE NAMED NEXT BORRUSIA MONCHENGLADBACH MANAGER

Former Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Spain superstar, Xabi Alonso, is set to be named as the new manager of German team, Borussia Monchengladbach, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Alonso is currently in charge of Real Sociedad’s B team but will return to Germany in June.

He enjoyed a brilliant career as a player, winning with Liverpool the FA Cup and Champions League, La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Real Madrid and 3 league titles and the German Cup with Munich.

He also was a main stay of the Spanish side for over ten years and won the European Championships twice and the World Cup.

Pep Guardiola signed him from Real Madrid in 2014 and he ended his trophy laden career in Bavaria three seasons later.

If he has half a good career as a manager as he did a player, then this might be the first step on a journey that could go right to the very top.

Alonso will replace Marco Rose, who recently signed a deal to become the next Borussia Dortmund manager.

Gladbach were challenging for the Champions League places at the end of last year, but have tumbled down the table since the start of the new year and currently sit in 10th place following a run of poor results.

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BUNDESLIGA: BORRUSIA ENDS WINLESS RUN WITH 3-0 VICTORY AT SCHALKE

FC Schalke 04 were beaten 3-0 by Borussia Mönchengladbach at the VELTINS-Arena on Saturday evening, helping Mönchengladbach break their winless run in the league in a while. Lars Stindl opening the scoring in the first half, before Stefan Lainer added a second and then Frederik Rönnow scored an unlucky own goal.

Dimitrios Grammozis made two changes to the side that lost in Wolfsburg last weekend. Omar Mascarell, who missed that game after accumulating five yellow cards, replaced Amine Harit, while Matthew Hoppe came into the starting XI for Alessandro Schöpf. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar made the bench after his recent injury troubles.

The visitors enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening stages at the VELTINS-Arena, which meant Schalke looked to create chances from quick counter attacks. Despite several promising openings, the final pass was often lacking for the Royal Blues.

Gladbach took the lead after a quarter of an hour. Marcus Thuram burst down the left-hand side and his cross was parried by Frederik Rönnow. William’s clearance didn’t have enough on it and it fell to Florian Neuhaus. His shot was blocked, but Lars Stindl hammered the rebound into the roof of the net (15’). Referee Tobias Stieler allowed the goal to stand after discussions with VAR in Cologne as there were claims that the ball went out before Thuram’s cross.

Benito Raman’s shot from range flew over the Gladbach goal with 27 minutes played. Nonetheless, the away side continued to have the best opportunities after going ahead. Alassane Pléa couldn’t get on the end of Stefan Lainer’s inviting cross across the box (32’). Two minutes later, Pléa played it through to Thuram, who saw his shot just go wide into the side-netting. Florian Neuhaus then found space in the box with some nice skill, however his strike ended up in the same place as Thuram’s.

Schalke’s best moment of the first half came five minutes before the end. Sead Kolasinac dribbled through the middle until the edge of the box and played it to Kerim Calhanoglu on the left. The full-back’s powerful shot was punched away by Yann Sommer.

Borussia continued to carve out more chances in the second half and Schalke’s efforts going forward never came to fruition. Instead, Rönnow was in action frequently. The Dane tipped over an attempt from Pléa to keep the score at 1-0 (57‘). Six minutes later, however, he was beaten for a second time – Stefan Lainer was left unmarked from a corner and he headed home at the front post (63’).

Twenty minutes before full time, Rönnow parried a Neuhaus shot from distance (71’), but moments later he was picking the ball out of the net following an unfortunate own goal. Nico Elvedi headed on goal from a Pléa cross and the ball slipped away from the goalkeeper on landing and carried just over the goal line for a third Gladbach goal (73’).

Comfortably in the lead, the visitors controlled the final 15 minutes of the affair, but other than a Thuram effort saved by Rönnow (76’), there were no more notable chances.

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MAN CITY JUMP INTO UCL LAST EIGHT AFTER SEEING OFF BORRUSIA MONCHENGLADBACH

Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan struck early as Manchester City eased into the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday.

The pair netted in the opening 18 minutes of the second leg of the last-16 tie in Budapest, securing a 2-0 victory and wrapping up a comfortable 4-0 aggregate success for Pep Guardiola’s quadruple-chasing side.

De Bruyne set City on their way at the Puskas Arena with a stunning long-range strike after 12 minutes before Gundogan tucked away his 15th goal of the season after a fine run by Phil Foden.

The result kept City’s bid for four trophies firmly on track, although tougher tests will lie ahead in Europe as they return to the quarter-final stage that has proved their undoing in the past three seasons.

The Premier League leaders were dominant in the first leg at the same venue and it was clear from early on a similar story would play out second time around. The Bundesliga side had lost their previous six games – all since it was announced coach Marco Rose would be leaving for rivals Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season – and they never looked like reversing that trend.

Guardiola switched tactics from the weekend win at Fulham, dropping strikers Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero to the bench and reverting to a false nine. De Bruyne chiefly played that central role, although he interchanged with others, and the plan worked superbly.

City controlled the game in almost all aspects from the outset and had their first serious chance after seven minutes when Joao Cancelo clipped a clever ball into the box for Foden.

On this occasion the England youngster was unable to make clean contact with his volley and Yann Sommer pushed away, but the Swiss keeper could do little about De Bruyne’s ferocious strike six minutes later.

The Belgian fired into the roof of the net with his weaker left foot after collecting a pass from Riyad Mahrez 20 yards out.

Gundogan doubled the lead six minutes later after a brilliant run by Foden, who turned inside his own half and broke away to play in the German with a no-look pass. Gundogan made no mistake as he bore down on Sommer, placing the ball into the bottom corner before hurdling the keeper.

To their credit, despite being outclassed, Monchengladbach tried to play positively. Lars Stindl and Marcus Thuram both managed to force saves from Ederson while Breel Embolo shot across the face of goal after a good move.

But City threatened more, with Mahrez picking out Gundogan in the area only for Sommer to clear and De Bruyne testing the keeper from a free-kick. Mahrez shot narrowly wide early in the second half.

Mahrez twice threatened again but was denied both times by Sommer and Foden had an effort blocked.

City got some minutes out of Aguero and Raheem Sterling in the closing stages and Mahrez had further opportunities when he shot over and then wide late on.

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UCL: MANCHESTER CITY NEAR LAST EIGHT AFTER BEATING MONCHENGLADBACH

Manchester City moved to the verge of the Champions League quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday but coach Pep Guardiola insisted his team still need to “be more clinical up front”. A first half header from Bernardo Silva and a Gabriel Jesus strike in the second period of the last 16 first leg tie extended a winning streak by Guardiola’s high-flying side to 19 games in all competitions. Premier League leaders City camped inside the Gladbach half for most of the game, which was moved to Hungary due to Germany’s Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Although dominant, City took time to break down a stubborn German defence, often foiled by the interceptions of Algeria left-back Ramy Bensebaini.

While Guardiola said afterwards he was “pleased” with the result, he added City “have to improve” to challenge for Champions League honours.

“We controlled the game. Unfortunately we were not clinical up front, it is something we have to improve in this competition, we were not good enough in the box, we didn’t dribble and shoot enough,” said Guardiola.

“In this competition you have to be perfect to be sure you can go through,” he said.

Debutants in the Champions League knockout stages, Gladbach had been urged by coach Marco Rose to be brave against Guardiola’s side.

France’s Alassane Plea was almost through on goal on 20 minutes after a rare counterattack, but a nervy and deep-lying Gladbach eventually succumbed to mounting pressure in the 29th minute.

A sublime inch-perfect cross by Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo curled over the defence from the left to reach his compatriot Silva who flicked his close-range header past Yann Sommer.

“We tried to play simple and not make mistakes. It’s a good win for us, but it’s not over yet,” Silva told news men.

“Every time when he plays (Silva) is an exceptional player, he’s really good in the air, the goal was fantastic how he finished it,” said Guardiola.

The 26-year-old Cancelo, impressive throughout, nearly doubled the lead five minutes from the break but his shot from just outside the box pinged over the bar.

Then early in the second half Jesus should have converted after latching on to a poorly judged backpass by Bensebaini but saw his shot blocked by Swiss defender Nico Elvedi.

Apart from a lunging backheel from Plea that flashed just wide of Ederson’s far post on the hour mark, City comfortably contained the Germans, and went two up in the 65th minute.

Another majestic cross-field pass by Cancelo again found Silva at Sommer’s far post who this time headed back across the goalmouth for Jesus to fire home and seal City’s 19th successive victory and sixth Champions League clean sheet in a row.

Gladbach, who managed just one shot on target throughout the game, an effort by substitute Hannes Wolf saved by Ederson in the last moments, now face a formidable task to turn around the tie in the return leg scheduled for March 16 in Manchester.

We deservedly lost today against a very strong team, you don’t get many chances against such an opponent, we simply couldn’t attack more,” said Rose

“It would have been good to score at the end to be in a better position.”

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MARCO ROSE TO JOIN DORTMUND NEXT SEASON FROM BORRUSIA MONCHENGLADBACH

After weeks of speculation, Borussia Mönchengladbach confirmed on Monday that head coach Marco Rose will leave the club at the end of the season in order to take charge of Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund.

The 44-year-old’s contract with Gladbach runs until 2022, but Dortmund are set to trigger a €5 million ($6m) release clause to bring Rose from one Borussia to the other.

“We’ve had many discussions about Marco’s future in recent weeks,” said Gladbach sporting director Max Eberl, after tabloid BILD and football magazine Kicker had broken the news. “Unfortunately, he has decided to make use of a clause in his contract and move to Borussia Dortmund in the summer.”

Dortmund themselves confirmed the move but said they would be refraining from commenting further until the end of the season.

Dortmund had made Rose their number one target to take over long term from former head coach Lucien Favre, who was sacked in December. Under interim coach Edin Terzic, the Black and Yellows have only won four out of ten league games and have dropped to sixth in the Bundesliga level on points with seventh place Gladbach.

Despite a poor recent run of form – Gladbach haven’t won in three games either and lost a local derby to Cologne last week – Rose’s rapid rise has quickly generated interest.

He began his coaching career with hometown club Lokomotive Leipzig in 2012 before coaching several Red Bull Salzburg academy teams. He took over Salzburg’s first team in 2017, winning the Austrian Bundesliga and qualifying for the Champions League for the first time.

He was headhunted by Gladbach sporting director Eberl ahead of the 2019-20 season and led the Foals to fourth place, returning them to the Champions League for the first time since 2016, where they progressed through a group containing Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Under Rose’s tutelage, Gladbach have impressed with an aggressive pressing game and a potent attack built around Marcus Thuram, Alassane Pléa and captain Lars Stindl. Behind them, Florian Neuhaus and Denis Zakaria have developed into two of the Bundesliga’s top midfielders.

Gladbach’s offensive style of play has seen them outscore both Bayern Munich (3-2) and Borussia Dortmund (4-2) since the turn of the year, playing the sort of football that the BVB bosses want to see at the Westfalenstadion.

Rose will face his future employers again in the German Cup quarterfinal on March 2.

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UCL: MAN CITY’S CLASH WITH BORRUSIA MONCHEGLADBACH MOVED TO BUDAPEST.

Manchester City’s Champions League tie away to Borussia Monchengladbach will be played in Budapest due to travel restrictions imposed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Premier League leaders will follow Liverpool in travelling to the Hungarian capital to face German opposition, with City’s round-of-16 first-leg match on February 24 to be played at the Puskas Arena.

Liverpool are due to play RB Leipzig at the same venue eight days earlier.

A ban on foreign nationals arriving into Germany is due to expire on February 17, a day after Liverpool’s match, but the restrictions are expected to be extended, leading Gladbach to seek alternatives for their own fixture.

A UEFA statement said: “UEFA can confirm that the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 first-leg match between Borussia VfL 1900 Monchengladbach and Manchester City FC will now take place at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.

“The date of the match (24 February 2021) and kick-off time (21:00CET) will remain the same.

“UEFA would like to thank Borussia VfL 1900 Monchengladbach and Manchester City FC for their close cooperation and support, as well as the Hungarian Football Federation for their assistance and agreeing to host the match in question.”

Leipzig are due at Anfield for their return leg on March 10, while Gladbach are scheduled to travel to the Etihad Stadium on March 16.

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ALASSANE PLEA SCORES HATRICK AS BORRUSIA MONCHEGLADBACH BEATS SHAKTAR 6-0

Striker Alassane Plea scored a hat-trick as Borussia Mönchengladbach crushed their hosts Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 on Tuesday to take over from them at the top of Group B of the Champions League.

Gladbach, who conceded late equalisers in their previous group matches against Inter Milan and Real Madrid, scored four in the first half, with two coming from the 27-year-old Plea, to kill off the game and eventually earn one of the largest away wins of the competition.

They are now top on five points from three games, one point ahead of Shakhtar.

Inter and Real, on two and one point respectively from two games, play each other in the late game in the group on Tuesday.

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MADRID COMEBACK TO RALLY FOR 2-2 DRAW WITH MONCHEGLADBACH.

Real Madrid fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Borussia Monchengladbach to avoid making it two defeats out of two in Champions League Group B and keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout rounds alive.

Madrid played well for the opening half hour, and Toni Kroos had a shot from distance well-saved by Borussia goalkeeper Yann Sommer, but it was the German side who went ahead, with Marcus Thuram scoring with their only shot of the first half.

The visitors looked to respond as Marco Asensio went close either side of half time. Thuram doubled Borussia’s lead with a close-range second, before Karim Benzema pulled a goal back from Casemiro’s header and the Brazilian grabbed a dramatic, added-time equaliser.

Just as they did against Shakhtar Donetsk last week, Madrid started fairly well here, pressing Borussia high up the pitch and disrupting the Germans’ ability to play out from deep. They struggled after that but showed great spirit to fight back in the second half, in difficult circumstances.

Eden Hazard’s return from injury, 81 days later, is good news, if he can finally stay fit. Asensio’s performance was a positive, too. The Spain international winger is getting regular game time now this was his third start in a row and coach Zinedine Zidane clearly recognises his huge, as yet unfulfilled, potential.

Real Madrid were dangerously close here to losing four Champions League games in a row for the first time in their history. Back-to-back knockout defeats to Manchester City had been followed by last week’s bizarre 3-2 loss to Shakhtar, and this would have been an embarrassing result too were it not for Casemiro’s heroics.

The team continues to ship goals far too easily, and Zidane needs to address the vulnerable-looking defence, and fast. Madrid seem far too fragile at present in the face of adversity. Conceding one goal threatens a collapse. They can’t keep making things so hard for themselves.