Borussia Mönchengladbach have unintentionally reignited the race for direct qualification for next year’s Champions League. The Bundesliga’s third-placed side could only manage a 0-0 draw on Friday evening away at Eintracht Frankfurt and on Saturday, Bayer Leverkusen have the chance to overtake them with a win against Hannover 96.
At least a fourth-place finish, which seals a place in the Champions League qualifying round, looks to be all but sealed for Lucien Favre’s team, who have now gone nine Bundesliga games without losing. Frankfurt, however, must hope their rivals slip up in order to keep their Europa League hopes alive.
Herrmann close to opening the scoring
Borussia, who last lost at the beginning of February in a 1-0 defeat to Schalke 04, were the more determined side early on and, aside from the lightning quick chance for Haris Seferovic after 29 seconds, spent most of the early stages in the opponents’ half. Patrick Herrmann missed the chance to take the lead but Eintracht’s keeper Kevin Trapp was quick to react to the early chance.
In front of 51,500 fans in the sold-out Commerzbank Arena, the home side had to do without top goalscorer Alexander Meier, who will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, as well as defensive stalwart Carlos Zambrano. Midfielder Stefan Aigner fortunately returned to fitness in time to come into the team. World Cup winner Christoph Kramer was back in the starting line-up for the visitors following a suspension.
Goalkeepers on top
Kramer, along with Granit Xhaka, pulled the strings for Gladbach in the midfield. They deserved to take the lead on 22 minutes after Fabian Johnson missed a great chance for the away side, but the longer Favre’s side went without scoring, the more courage it gave the hosts.
Thomas Schaaf’s Frankfurt side grew into the game and ended the first half on the up, spending more and more time in the final third. Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer was forced to make a fine save from Meier replacement Nelson Valdez in the 34th minute. Bastian Oczipka and Seferovic wasted the final chance of the half after some poor decision making.
Borussia regained dominance in the game after the restart but once again lacked precision in attack. Borussia’s link-up play, which so often this season has been outstanding, was lacking imagination at times. At the other end of the pitch, Sommer was increasingly called upon to keep the home side from scoring. The Swiss keeper saved well from Oczipka on 56 minutes, while Aigner should really have scored in the 69th minute, but fired wide of the goal. The final chance of the match fell to substitute Thorgan Hazard in the final second, but his powerful strike was parried by Trapp to ensure a goalless draw.