Gladbach will play the Round of 16 second leg match against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening (21:00 CET) in the Puskás Aréna in Budapest. Today, on Monday, the Foals are making their way to Hungary.
Die Fohlen also played their home match in the Round of 16 in the Puskás Aréna in Budapest. Now, almost three weeks later, the second leg between Manchester City and Gladbach will take place in the Hungarian capital. Due to the arrival restrictions in Germany, a match in Manchester would have meant a 14-day quarantine for the team and accompanying staff.
Therefore, the Borussia squad are flying to Budapest today with the plane taking off from Düsseldorf at 16:30 CET on Monday. On board are the three goalkeepers – Yann Sommer, Tobias Sippel und Max Grün – the outfield players, the coaches and support staff. Christoph Kramer and Ramy Bensebaini, who have been out injured recently, will also be able to make the trip. However, Julio Villalba and Torben Müsel will not be flying with the team due to their injuries.
After arriving in Budapest, the team will travel directly to the team hotel. A little more than 24 hours later the second-leg match will kick off in the Puskás Aréna. “We know the level of play that we will be coming up against; we lost 2-0 in the first leg,” Gladbach’s head coach Marco Rose says in the virtual press conference ahead of the flight to Budapest. “We know that we’re facing a huge challenge with the quality of our opponents and the first leg result, but a lot of things can happen in football. On a very good day and with a 1-0 lead, something could always happen. Nevertheless, we know the quality of Manchester City and we will face the challenge.”
