Year in review: A memorable away victory

The 6-0 away win to FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League went down in the history books. It was Borussia’s biggest away victory in Europe for 47 years. The Man of the Match was hat-trick scorer Alassane Plea.

When The Foals arrived back at BORUSSIA-PARK after their trip to Ukraine, they could hardly believe their eyes. All of the employees who were not working from home had donned scarves and flags, standing in the windows of the offices and giving the team a triumphant welcome back. They paid tribute to a memorable away victory with a standing ovation. It was a big surprise for the players and coaches, who had been missing the support of fans in the stadium for months due to the Coronavirus pandemic. “A nice reception! It’s great when you see that the entire club is rooting for us when we’re playing away. We really enjoyed it“, said goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Sporting director Max Eberl gave a short speech from the stadium: “We were very proud last night and we are again today. It was a great idea, whoever came up with it. Thank you so much. We’ll keep giving our all so maybe we can have even more receptions like this.”

The night before, Borussia’s game plan worked perfectly right from the beginning of the match. The Foals put their opponents under pressure right from the off, playing through their defence with diagonal balls. It was no surprise when Alassane Plea finished off a great move on seven minutes, putting his side 1-0 ahead. Gladbach kept their foot on the gas, not giving their opponents anything. A Christoph Kramer long-range effort deflected off Valeriy Bondar and hit the back of the net, making it 2-0. Plea got his second of the game in the 26th minute, before Ramy Bensebaini added a fourth just before half time. Borussia began the second half as they did the first, controlling proceedings. Lars Stindl added a fifth before Plea secured his hat-trick, making the score 6-0. “If you score three goals as a striker, that’s always a special moment”, said head coach Marco Rose. However, he heaped praise on the entire team: “That was a top performance from my side, who did a lot right. We kept a clean sheet, scored six goals and completely deserved to win the game.” The 6-0 win put Borussia top of Group B in the Champions League after three games.