2021/22’s opening pre-season friendly saw the Foals draw 2-2 with 3. Liga side Viktoria Köln. Ramy Bensebaini and Patrick Herrmann scored the goals for Adi Hütter’s side in the new boss’ first match in charge.
There were 990 fans in Rheydt’s Grenzlandstadion to witness a good battle between Borussia and their third-tier opponents. The Foals took an early sixth-minute lead thanks to Ramy Bensebaini’s header from a corner, but the visitors were back level just two minutes later through Jeremias Lorch. Viktoria Köln even flipped the game on its head around the quarter-hour mark, with Tony Jantschke turning the ball into his own net while trying to intercept a dangerous cross (17’).
Adi Hütter changed his entire starting line-up for the second half, and it was a more solid showing from Gladbach after the break. Patrick Herrmann scored the equaliser in the 76th minute, masterfully curling a free-kick over the wall and into the top corner. A late save one-on-one from Moritz Nicolas ensured that the scores remained level in a good opening workout for the Foals.
TEAM NEWS
In his debut in the Borussia dugout, Hütter opted for a back-four of Joe Scally, Tony Jantschke, Ramy Bensebaini and Yassir Atty (U19s) in front of goalkeeper Tobias Sippel. Christoph Kramer sat deepest in a three-man midfield alongside Conor Noß (U23s) and Luiz Skraback (U23s), while Steffen Meuer (U23s), Lars Stindl and Luca Barata (U19s) made up the front three.
Moritz Nicolas took over goalkeeping duties for the second half, backed up in defence by Michael Lang, Jordan Beyer, Michael Wentzel (U23s) – who came on in the first half after Bensebaini went off with a knock – and Andreas Poulsen. Per Lockl (U23s), Michel Lieder (U23s) and Keanan Bennetts played in midfield, with Hannes Wolf, Patrick Herrmann and Alassane Plea leading the line.
EURO 2020 participants Yann Sommer, Nico Elvedi, Denis Zakaria (Switzerland), Matthias Ginter, Florian Neuhaus, Jonas Hofmann (Germany), Stefan Lainer (Austria), Marcus Thuram (France) and László Bénes (Slovakia) are all still on holiday and so are not yet involved in pre-season training. New signing Manu Koné is sidelined with a knee injury, while Breel Embolo is also out after suffering a hamstring injury in Switzerland’s quarterfinal defeat to Spain.
MATCH FACTS
Borussia:
First half: Sippel – Scally, Jantschke, Bensebaini (43’ Wentzel), Atty – Kramer, Noß, Skraback – Meuer, Stindl, Barata
Second half: Nicolas – Lang, Beyer, Wentzel, Poulsen – Lieder, Lockl, Bennetts – Wolf, Herrmann, Plea
Goals: 1-0 Bensebaini (6’), 1-1 Lorch (8’), 1-2 Jantschke o.g. (17’), 2-2 Herrmann (76’)
Referee: Niklas Dardenne
Attendance: 990
