In the second Bundesliga match week, Borussia Mönchengladbach welcomed Union Berlin to Borussia-Park as Gladbach were looking to bounce back after last week’s defeat against Borussia Dortmund. After taking the lead off of an excellent header by Marcus Thuram, Gladbach let Union back into the match, allowing Union to equalise with a Nico Schlotterbeck header off of a corner kick of their own.
This tactical analysis will examine the tactics used by both Marco Rose and Urs Fischer. The analysis will examine how Gladbach used their midfielders to manipulate space and their opponent, Union’s emphasis on the counter-attack, and Union’s use of their press to unsettle Gladbach late in the match.
Lineups
Marco Rose sent Gladbach out in a 4-2-3-1 with Yann Sommer in goal. Matthias Ginter and Nico Elvedi started as Gladbach’s centre-back pairing with Ramy Bensebaini as the left-back and Konrad Laimer as the right-back. Christoph Kramer and Florian Neuhaus operated as the defensive midfield pairing with Lars Stindl, Jonas Hofmann, and Marcus Thuram in front of them. Alassane Pléa started as Gladbach’s striker.
Urs Fischer opted for a 5-4-1 formation with Andreas Luthe in goal. Christopher Lenz started at left wing-back while Christopher Trimmel started as the right wing-back. Nico Schlotterbeck, Robin Knoche, and Marvin Friedrich started the match as the three centre-backs for Union. Grischa Prömel and Robert Andrich were the two central midfielders while Marius Bülter provided width on the left and Sheraldo Becker did the same on the right. Taiwo Awoniyi was the lone striker at the start of the match.
