Lone Wolf strike bursts Leipzig's bubble

Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 RB Leipzig, Borussia-Park
(Wolf 60')

The meeting of Germany’s brightest young coaches, Marco Rose and Julian Nagelsmann, has become something of a tourist attraction for the Bundesliga. Both seem destined to go on to great things, and last season’s absorbing 2-2 draw between them was rich in quality and drama.

The same can’t be said for the latest installment of the Rose-Nagelsmann rivalry. Billed as the weekend’s top game, thís contest didn’t come close to living up to the hype. But the winning coach will care only for the three points that sees Borussia Mönchengladbach pierce the Bundesliga‘s top four for the first time this season, and end a rollercoaster week on a high.

Rose was desperately close to guiding Gladbach to a memorable win over Real Madrid on Tuesday, with his side playing the Spanish giants off the park for over an hour but having only a point to show for a coming-of-age performance. Gladbach were nowhere near those heights against Leipzig, but this time the three points were theirs to savor. For Leipzig, it was a fitting end to a harrowing week after their 5-0 defeat by Manchester United.

"It was a difficult game for both teams," a relieved Rose said after Gladbach's fifth game in 15 days. "We saw at the start that both sides had a few games in their legs."

Wolf bites

The source of the winning goal, the game’s only recountable moment of attacking quality, served to rub salt in Leipzig’s wound. Hannes Wolf is on loan from Leipzig and has known Rose since his adolescence, a key factor in their decision to reunite in the Rhineland. His winner came after a fine lay-off by Patrick Herrmann capped a silky move.

"It was a load off my mind," said an elated Wolf, whose last goal was in mid-2019 for RB Salzburg. "I have had to wait a year and a half for such a moment. I'm happy that this piece of the jigsaw fell into place today. The game certainly gives you self-confidence. I see myself as a player of Borussia Mönchengladbach — I hope to be here for longer than this year."

And Leipzig-born Rose was quick to heap praise on his matchwinner, saying he knew Wolf could handle playing against his former club.

Even a stony-faced Nagelsmann found time to compliment his opposite number for including Wolf in his starting line-up. "Marco knows a player like that has a fire in their belly for games like this."

Heroes to zeros

This time last week an undefeated Leipzig were occupying pole position in their European and domestic leagues. Seven days on, Nagelsmann is brooding over a week that has darkened the mood at the club, even if there was more resilience to his team in Mönchengladbach than in Manchester four days earlier.

"It felt like a draw would have been a fair result," Nagelsmann said. "We applied a lot of pressure in the last 30 minutes, but not in the first half. The pressure over 90 minutes was too little to speak of in an unfortunate defeat."

The elephant in the room is Timo Werner. Leipzig sold their only world class attacker in the last transfer window and haven’t looked like scoring in their last 180 minutes of football.

The two teams they’ve faced with any attacking pedigree have beaten them without reply and, to make matters worse, their next game is against one of Europe’s most potent attacks in Paris Saint-Germain.