5
20:37
In this initial phase, VfL is the much more active team and keeps going forward quickly and without frills. Gladbach is not in this game at all.
2
20:34
Bochum comes out of the starting blocks furiously and immediately gets a first corner. A little later, Holtmann’s first shot follows, but he clearly misses the shot from a distance.
1
20:32
After a minute’s silence for the recently deceased DFB honorary president Egidius Braun, the game begins. Bochum starts all in blue, Gladbach plays in white.
20:28
The match will be led by referee Benjamin Cortus and his two assistants, Florian Heft and Christian Gittelmann. The video images are evaluated by Markus Schmidt.
20:12
For Christian Peintinger, on the other hand, it is the second time as a replacement for Hütter. On his debut he managed a 2-0 win against Hertha BSC Berlin with Borussia, in which his team impressed especially before the break. And that’s exactly where the guests want to continue today. “I expect that we will play like we did against Hertha in the first half in Bochum, namely with an aggressive style of play,” demanded Peintinger, who expects an unpleasant opponent for his eleven: “Bochum is incredibly strong on the run, they are very aggressive and go intensively on second balls. That’s what we can expect. We have to be prepared for that,” said the Austrian, who also had a Corona failure with Nico Elvedi today.
20:06
Assistant coach Markus Gellhaus was cool before his first big appearance. “You have to be prepared for almost anything these days. We’ve completed the final training session and we’ll coordinate everything else in the next few hours,” said the 51-year-old before his debut on the sidelines. The fact that Robert Tesche, Milos Pantovic and Christian Gamboa, in addition to Coach Reis, are three players with corona infections is not a big issue for Gellhaus. “We’re missing a few players but we still have quality. I saw a team in training this morning that are keen to make the next step, so I’m not worried.”
19:47
After their disastrous first half of the season, the visitors from the Lower Rhine are now out of the woods, but they are still far from satisfied. The lead over rank 16 is seven points, and the international rankings that were originally targeted have long since ceased to be an issue. This is partly due to the chronic weakness of the foals away from home. Borussia got nine of their 30 points abroad. Most recently, even a 2-0 lead was not enough for the relegation candidates in Stuttgart to take something countable with them.
19:38
In the weeks following their spectacular 4-2 win over Bayern, the hosts have continued to sell well for the most part, but have barely scored any points. The only win from the last five competitive games came against bottom side Fürth (2:1). With a nine-point lead over the relegation zone, Bochum can still look forward to the rest of the season with ease. Should the eighth home win of the season succeed today, one could finally start planning for another year in the upper house.
19:31
The game has a place in the history books even before kick-off. When VfL Bochum and Borussia Mönchengladbach step onto the pitch, two teams will face each other for the first time in the Bundesliga, both of which will have to do without their head coach. Gladbach’s Adi Hütter had already tested positive for Covid-19 the previous week and will be represented again today by Christian Peintinger. Now it has also caught VfL coach Thomas Reis, for whom assistant coach Markus Gellhaus will make the decisions on the sidelines.
Good evening and welcome to the 27th match day of the Bundesliga! VfL Bochum and Borussia Mönchengladbach open the weekend in the German elite class at 8:30 p.m. on Castroper Straße!