Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Mönchengladbach: Chase for Champions League hots up

Borussia Mönchengladbach have almost but confirmed their place in next seasons Champions League group stages should they win in Frankfurt on Friday night.

Lucien Favre’s Gladbach featured in the qualifying stages of the 2012/13 Champions League after finishing fourth the previous season, losing to Dynamo Kyiv 4-3 on aggregate, but die Fohlen will be hoping to go one better this time round, into the group stages.

Two points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen in fourth and 12 points ahead of Schalke 04 in fifth place – Gladbach are odds on for a third-place finish after beating Borussia Dortmund 3-1 on matchday 27.

“We are not letting ourselves be dazzled by that dream,” Gladbach Sporting Director, Max Eberl spoke in his press conference.

“We’ve had an incredible season until now. The team are winning consistently in the league and have also dealt very well with the setbacks in the Europa League against Sevilla and in the DFB Cup in Bielefeld.

“However, we won’t let ourselves get carried away with new objectives. Our rivals seem to be having a more difficult time than us.”

"We will give everything to achieve something great," - Max Eberl

Form Guide

Unbeaten in eight games, Gladbach currently hold the longest run in the league at present, with league rivals Bayer Leverkusen unbeaten in seven.

However, Eintracht are unbeaten in their last eight home games, with five wins and three draws – the longest time they have gone without losing on home soil since 2000.

Both sides have struggled with Friday night games in the past, with the hosts without a win in seven, and Gladbach losing all three matches, without finding the net.

Gladbach have only lost five games all season, however one of those defeats came against Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday 12.

Eintracht were the in-form team in the Bundesliga hinrunde, but with just three league wins in 2015, and with top scorer Alexander Meier injured for the season, it’s going to be a tough ask for Thomas Schaaf’s Frankfurt.

“The injuries are nothing new,” Schaaf spoke in his press conference. “We’ll try to give as good as we get.”

Frankfurt suffered a 3-0 defeat to leaders Bayern Munich last weekend, keeping the 2013/14 champions to just one goal at half-time, before Robert Lewandowski added his second and Thomas Muller putting the game to bed.

“It’s a real shame that Alex [Meier] has been ruled out for the season,” added Eintracht’s Haris Seferovic. “We’ll try to share the load. Gladbach are a really good team, but we’re at home.”

Gladbach manager, Favre added: “He’s a good player [Meier] but Frankfurt have other options up front so I don’t see it as being an advantage for us.”

Nelson Valdez, Sonny Kittel and Seferovic are all expected to start for Frankfurt, whilst Stefan Aigner could return in midfield. However, Carlos Zambrano and Marco Russ will both miss the game through injury whilst Marc Stendera will serve a one-match ban.

World Cup winner Cristoph Kramer is expected to return to the starting XI at the expense of Harvard Nordtveit following his suspension. There could also be a start for Thorgan Hazard ahead of Fabian Johnson.

Key Players

Without Kevin Trapp in goal for Eintracht Frankfurt, the side from the German state of Hesse would be sitting lower down the table if it wasn’t for the 24-year old stopper. Trapp has missed a handful of games through injury, having just started 16 games all season, but the ‘keeper has conceded just 30 goals.

Raffael has scored 11 goals in all competition this season for Gladbach, and with the help of Max Kruse and Patrick Herrmann, the trio are becoming a force to be reckoned with for fellow Bundesliga sides.

The Commerzbank-Arena is a sold-out game, with around 6,000 Gladbach fans making the trip to Frankfurt.