Zoff after the Bundesliga duel
Handshake refused – trainer angry at old acquaintances
12/06/2025 – 3:44 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
There was actually great joy after Gladbach’s victory. But after the final whistle, the coach got into an unusual argument.
After Borussia Mönchengladbach’s 1-0 win at Mainz 05, the sporting decline continues for the bottom of the table. While the “Foals” remained unbeaten in their fifth Bundesliga game in a row, the Rheinhessen missed their first win in nine league duels and only have six points to their name. But that’s not all: After the final whistle, an incident occurred on Friday evening, the trigger being a refused handshake between two old acquaintances.
What had happened? Gladbach coach Eugen Polanski, who played for Mainz between 2009 and 2013, wanted to high-five opposing press spokeswoman Silke Bannick at the obligatory conference after the game. However, there was no handshake on the podium. When Bannick announced the coach, he said in his direction: “You don’t have to look at me like that.” She also made a slip of the tongue: instead of “Elf from the Lower Rhine” she spoke of a “coach from the Upper Rhine”.
Bannick later explained that she had known Polanski for a long time, but that she found it inappropriate how he and Gladbach sports director Rouven Schröder were happy as ex-Mainzers – especially given the precarious sporting situation of their club.
It didn’t take long for Polanski to respond. “I found it disrespectful that she refused to shake my hand, I told her that too,” he told “Bild am Sonntag” and explained: “Then she wanted to tell me that her hands were full – then I told her that she was disrespectful at first and then she was lying. But I’m completely relaxed about it, it’ll be okay.”