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As the 2025/26 Bundesliga relegation race heats up, Get German Football News is pleased to release “relegation check” features checking in on German clubs fighting the drop. Today, we’ll be having a look in at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Eugen Polanski’s “Fohlenelf” have nine rounds to pick up the ten points needed to reach the Bundesliga “safety threshold”. This will not constitute a small feat.
Thus far, it’s been a rough 2026 calendar year. Polanski’s foals have collected only nine points from 10 league games. Fortunately, as we’ll examine in greater detail below, the remaining schedule is quite conducive to helping Gladbach secure another season of Bundesliga football. BMG enthusiasts nevertheless have plenty of reason to keep their preferred means of tempering anxiety at arms reach. Plenty of agita is coming.
This team happens to be atrocious offensively. After defeating Augsburg 4-0 in their first January match back after the winter break, the foals haven’t scored more than a single goal in any of their other games. Gladbach have been shut out on three occasions. Polanski’s attack isn’t anywhere close to clicking. Something must come together before a crucial match-up against fierce regional and relegation rivals 1. FC Köln in two weeks time.
Borussia Mönchengladbach
As is often the case in football, fans dissatisfied with long-term mid-table mediocrity suddenly find themselves pining for it whenever their team sinks into the relegation race. Heading into the current Bundesliga season, expectations were once again high. For what feels like the “nth time”, this appeared to be the year that the Niederrheiner would finally reclaim the sense of identity that’s been missing ever since Marco Rose busted the team’s stride with his decision to move to Borussia Dortmund in the middle of the 2020/21 campaign.
While one sensed that such hopes were quixotic at best, the totally wretched start to the season and complete administrative housecleaning certainly took many of us by surprise. Forming an identity proves next-to-impossible when a club opts to sack both its head coach and sporting director within a short time frame. The best concurrent evidence of this would be Wolfsburg, the Bundesliga’s current undisputed ‘sick man’. Gladbach have at least had better luck with their internally promoted trainer than Germany’s green company team.
For all his flaws, Polanski has at least been more consistent than Daniel Bauer.
Trainer Check, Borussia Mönchengladbach
While desperation has led Bauer to try and take on a persona that doesn’t suit him, Polanski keeps his post-mortem more in line with his genuine personality. Admittedly, that won’t console Gladbach fans who tire of his morbidly depressed post-match press conferences in which he laments the fact that the team isn’t executing his plans. At least the 39-year-old looks to be impervious to calls from the German press to be a different person. Unlike Bauer, Polanski sticks to his own style; a simple and straightforward enough one as it turns out.
Polanski’s long-term viability for the club doesn’t appear to be all that convincing. Someone with more top flight experience should likely be brought in this summer to manage this top division squad. Note that the last sentence carries with it the connotation that what Polanski has to offer here will probably be sufficient. In principle, the trainer’s system and specific asks of his players can keep this team’s head above water. The collective BMG “dog-paddling” still won’t necessarily be pretty to watch.
Key Performer Check, Borussia Mönchengladbach
Haris Tabakovic, Striker
Few actors on this roster are more important than the slumping Bosnian striker. The recipient of widespread condemnation (and later plenty of deferred praise) has scored just twice in his last nine starts. The absolute last thing the team needed was for Tabakovic to miss his second penalty of the season early on during the matchday 19 loss against Stuttgart. The 31-year-old’s 11 goals on the season still count as a total trumping of expectations, but the eight-times-capped international must find a way of getting back into gear pronto. If he can’t, Polanski must explore other options.
One can always fall back on the excuse that the supporting cast isn’t supplying Tabakovic with quality service. On a team as bad offensively as this one, it’s easy enough to spread blame around. The fact remains that those of us watching this player in recent weeks must concede that his finishing has been especially poor. In most every game, Tabakovic either fails to connect cleanly with a cross or reacts too slowly in front of goal. He’s also often not back helping his teammates break out rearward bow-arc traps as he should be. Polanski might need to bench him.
Hugo Bolin, Attacker
When one reflects on who potentially might be able to replace Tabakovic (and one really needs to treat Tim Kleindienst’s permanent absence as a forgone conclusion at this point), this January acquisition springs to mind. The young Swede possesses everything it takes to work as a center forward with one regrettable exception. He’s not especially tall. Such a shame really. There’s a certain unique dynamism to his game. Bolin is very quick and exceptionally creative. He has a knack for popping up around the ball wherever on the pitch it happens to be.
Many Bundesliga reporters felt compelled to give Bolin a closer look after Polanski singled him out for praise at a recent press conference. We’ve not been disappointed. The 22-year-old’s game still remains a little raw. In the most recent league loss against Bayern, a bad ball loss enabled Konrad Laimer to add the decisive 2-0 shortly before the break. He also ran out of gas too easily on a few BMG counterattacks that could have ended up being useful. Some of the inconsistencies in his action remind one a little bit of Robin Hack, whom he’s been charged with replacing.
Kevin Stöger, Attacking Midfielder
It’s been a highly disappointing season for this Bundesliga fan-favorite. The 32-year-old Austrian doesn’t really have the pace anymore to compete on this level. As evidenced by his three assists in the Pokal, however, he still can be impactful against lower division opponents. At least Germans can look forward to him working for a 2. Bundesliga club for a few more years before his career drags to a close. All of that notwithstanding, Stöger can still contribute by bringing a calming and mature presence on the ball. He demonstrated that against Bayern last night.
Powerless to do much against Leon Goretzka’s cheeky lob pass, Stöger did well defensively apart from that. The German footballing journeyman also remains a quality set-piece taker who can easily tip the scales in some of the important matches to come. As sacrilege as it may seem, Polanski might consider tapping Stöger to start in place of Franck Honorat in a buttressing support role. Honorat – without Kleindienst – just hasn’t been able to get the timing of his services right this season.
Wael Mohya, Attacking Midfielder
The 17-year-old has already broken the record as Gladbach’s youngest ever Bundesliga entrant shortly before Christmas. One of Polanski’s former BMG II proteges has also been racking up regular minutes. Last week, he earned his first ever Bundesliga start. Last night, Mohya commemorated his first ever Bundesliga goal. The teenage talent is exception fun to watch. Like Hugo Bolin, however, he’s also prone to blind mistakes and mental errors. The youngster merits a mention. Ideally, Polanski should still take matters slowly and carefully with him.
Yannik Engelhardt, Central Midfielder
Irrespective of what has been going on with Gladbach this year, the surprise summer signing has been a fairly consistent breath of fresh air. The mere thought that we’d be discussing the former lower league mainstay at this point in the season counts as a big surprise. Somehow, the 25-year-old immediately became an important midfield presence for a Bundesliga club despite never playing in the Bundesliga prior to this season. His two top flight goals were memorable. Against Bayern last night, one could truly feel the suspended Engelhardt’s absence in midfield.
Philipp Sander, Central Midfielder
The former Holstein Kiel captain actually hasn’t really worked much as an attacking midfielder since joining Gladbach ahead of the 2024/25 season. In a deeper central midfield role, Sander had his problems as well. Personnel problems in the central defensive corps have forced the 28-year-old back further still. As a centre-back…well…Sander still doesn’t really convince. He’s not the best defender. One can say that he does a decent job passing out of the back, however. In any event, Polanski needs the strongest possible performances from him down the stretch.
Kevin Diks, Central Defender
The enthusiastic Indonesian international retains enormous as the squad’s designated penalty taker. From open play, one can fairly say that he’s by far been Gladbach’s best overall performer. No one apart from BMG alternate captain Rocco Reitz and Tabakovic (on the right days) comes anywhere close. The 29-year-old impresses on both sides of the ball. Never afraid to charge out of the back on long carries, one senses that Diks will play the hero in some of the forthcoming matches. He fully deserves the extra attention.
Tactics Check, Borussia Mönchengladbach
Beginning with last weekend’s league win over 1. FC Union Berlin, we’ll take a look at the latest state of Polanski’s 3-4-3. At the beginning of Polanski’s coaching tenure, the BMG trainer rolled out a much tighter and conservative formation vaguely reminiscent of what Manuel Baum is currently deploying at Augsburg. Gradually, things have widened up a bit. Sometimes this can actually be detrimental as forward charges get a little too crowded on the overlap. Overall, it’s still largely effective.
Lineup—BMG, Round 24 (3-4-3)
A decently cohesive defensive performance from everyone involved held Union to a season-low 0.14 xG. Offensively, Tabakovic and DIks had their moment during what was (deliberately) a rather tedious duel without much flow. Diks would have scored the match-winner earlier and in less dramatic fashion earlier had it not been for a tight offside decision involving Reitz. Bolin, Reitz, and Shuto Machino also got some late looks in.
A narrow, yet deserved victory from the XI above required some changes when it came time to face the German record champs. Bolin came on for Mohaya. Stöger replaced the suspended Engelhardt. A slightly different 3-4-3 accorded the vastly superior opponent loads of space between the second and third axes. After an early push, everyone pulled back.
Lineup—BMG, Round 25 (3-4-3)
Tabakovic missed two opportunities in the first half, naturally hindered a bit due to the fact that the constellational shift didn’t help anyone’s timing. Interestingly, a formational change after Jamal Musiala’s penalty conversion sealed the deal in the 57th-minute saw Machino spearhead the attack with Stöger acting as a solo central support bytresser. This had a little something to it and might work out in an instance in which Gladbach aren’t shorthanded.
Remaining Schedule, Borussia Mönchengladbach
The next three games come against fellow bottom dwellers. St. Pauli have nevertheless proven themselves to be no slouches recently. In addition to that, Heidenheim literally have nothing to lose and Köln won’t give an inch in the Rhein-derby. Two wins from the next three matches place Polanski’s team on course to alleviate the pressure. So much about the final four fixtures remains a mystery. One can’t foresee the stakes left for the final quartet on the docket.
Round 26
FC St. Pauli (H)
Round 27
FC Köln (A)
Round 28
FC Heidenheim (H)
Round 29
RB Leipzig (A)
Round 30
FSV Mainz 05 (H)
Round 31
VfL Wolfsburg (A)
Round 32
Borussia Dortmund (H)
Round 33
FC Augsburg (A)
Round 34
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (H)
It was against precisely this field that Polanski strung together some positive results and earned his permanent appointment. Three straight wins against St. Pauli, Köln, and Heidenheim greatly abetted his case. Polanski’s Gladbach also drew RB Leipzig and bested Mainz before Wolfsburg (of all teams) snapped the unbeaten streak and Dortmund beat the foals on the final matchday of the 2025 calendar year.
Expecting a 13-point-haul over the next five rounds seems pretty unreasonable. The same applies to the ten points needed to officially guarantee Gladbach safety. The author concludes by reiterating that two wins and six points over the next three matchdays should leave everyone confident in this club’s prospects. Two wins before the March international break probably takes them out of the relegation conversation.
GGFN | Peter Weis