Juventus will be a massive match I hope you can get the points needed to qualify!!
Thanks man... Wonder no more!
Gladbach have the upper hand in six-goal thriller
In the most anticipated match of the season so far, a sold out Borussia Park witnessed a thrilling match, as Borussia Mönchengladbach had to fight until the end to get the upper hand in this UEFA Champions League group stage match.
With Real Madrid already sure of advancing facing Helsingborgs, already sure of being eliminated, the other match of Group H featured Juventus needing a win in Gladbach to advance.
No surprise then when we saw Juventus hitting the ground running. And boy, Giovinco DOES run indeed!
It was him to set up the 1-0 goal as he outpaced Ecuele Manga to reach the end of the pitch and then to send in a sweet cross that Lisandro Lopez gently headed past Ter Stegen. Unfortunately for him (luckily enough for us, though) his match ended at minute 28, when Ecuele Manga brought him down in a desperate try to avoid him going one-on-one with Ter Stegen. Yellow for the defender, forced substitution for Giovinco. Vucinic came in instead, and shortly after it was indeed him to score the 2-0 with a screamer from outside the box.
What was starting to look like a nightmare got a little better when de Camargo scored the 2-1 goal, giving Gladbach at least a little hope, right before the half-time break.
In the second half, though, it was Juventus to start again in an attacking fashion, winning a penalty at minute 59 when Brouwers tripped Lopez in the box to prevent him from scoring. Of course, Lopez didn't miss the penalty: Ter Stegen could only brush against it before it went in exactly at the top corner. 3-1.
Yet, Gladbach didn't give up: this was de Camargo's night apparently, as he managed to reduce the gap once again by scoring the 3-2 goal with a great dribbling that allowed him to get rid of Bonuci and then with a clinical finish with his left foot.
With Borussia going all out attack and Juve struggling, it was only a matter of time. Minute 74: de Jong (subbed in for a dead tired de Camargo) makes fun of Chiellini right into the box, and in response Chiellini brings him down from behind. Red card and penalty! Hanke on the ball, impossible to reach for Buffon. Gladbach equalized!
From there on, with the situation completely changed, it was Juventus to go all out attack and to put Gladbach under siege, but Sigi's defence stood their ground perfectly and managed to bring home a hard fought point which sees them advance to the playoffs.
Unfortunately we didn't have much time to celebrate after the Juventus match, because Arango decided to drop a bombshell on us a couple of days after the match. Sigi must be a little unlucky with left midfielders, as this is exactly what happened with Zakuani back in his Seattle Sounders days:
Two matches before the winter break and the transfer window... Hope we can hold out until then!
Well that's one way to do it. Thrilling encounter. I feared for you when I got to the point where you were 3-1 down ^^ But that's one heck of a come back. Wonder who you'll meet in the knock-out stages.
Shame that Arango wants to leave but at least you know now, with the window not too far away you have time to prepare for it.
Shame that Arango wants to leave but at least you know now, with the window not too far away you have time to prepare for it.
Well, apparently he's still one of the the fans' favourites at the Borussia Park... And he scored one of the two goals that helped us get a draw against Mainz:
Unfortunately, he couldn't do much during the following match against FC Bayern: they played us off the park. The only good news is that Martin Stranzl came back after the injury, and managed to make Torres (who entered the pitch for Tevez in the second half) almost disappear.
Wow. Tough couple of games. Bayern are Bayern obviously but it's still a pretty hefty, if not entirely unexpected loss. Shame you couldn't beat Mainz though, especially at home, but could have been worse.
Fantastic match against Juventus by the read of it. I know videos aren't popular but that would've been a good instance to post one, as long as you don't film yourself talking to yourself while adjusting game settings.
I guess Juan is gone...good riddance fool, Sigi will find someone better. As far as FC Bayern, what can you do? Barcelona will be tough, but take heart from the Juventus match, anything can happen.
You don't know how much I laughed when I first saw that meme... You know, he's also been Prime Minister of Italy in the late 1990s, so it was somehow shocking to see someone I knew featured in such a successful meme.
I know videos aren't popular but that would've been a good instance to post one, as long as you don't film yourself talking to yourself while adjusting game settings.
I know! Might do something for Barcelona, if I can get it done in a reasonable time...
Nah, adjusting game settings like putting the difficulty to "easy peasy", raising all the CPU error sliders to 100 and lowering all of mine to 0 are things that I'm reserving for the moment I face Inter.
But you don't want to see what happens to me while I play, though: there are videos of me playing against some friends around the net, and they're hilarious. I'm another one who seems to get a little too involved in matches from time to time apparently.
We surely need a sort of miracle there... Meanwhile, let's just enjoy a couple of days of relax after a kinda lively night...
Dear journal,
what a night this has been. It's seven o'clock in the morning and I can clearly see from the window some people still wandering around the park like... Like they don't know where they are anymore.
That's what happens when Sigi invites like everyone on Earth at his home for the New Year's Eve party.
That's right, he said HIS home! Apparently the castle isn't mine anymore dear journal, I wonder if he's going to even ask me to pay the rent one of these days...
Of course, he put it to me in a slightly different way: "KK, I took the liberty to invite a couple of friends at the castle for the New Year's Eve party, hope this ain't a problem for you" he said.
Well, that "couple of friends" turned out being all the first team players (with their wives, fiancées, girlfriends and such), the physios, the team's medics ("Well KK, we're gonna need a couple of medics after all... What if someone passes out?" he said), all the board members with their families and last but not least the U-21 squad. With girlfriends and a couple of crushes, aswell.
Just a couple of friends.
Well, at least he didn't ask me to help him set up the park with lights and such... And I must admit he did a very good with it job after all, this is what he did to the driveway for example:
What to say dear Journal... With hindsight, it's been a great idea and the party has been a success. A huge success, I dare say. So, fair play to Sigi.
And fair play also to Pat Herrmann, who delighted the crowd with his great DJing skills. I was ready to bet he wouldn't be able to put two records in sync to save his life, but he surprised everyone with a great show. Something Mike Fucito would be proud of:
The roar of the audience when he started playing "Turn up the radio" by Madonna has probably been heard also in Düsseldorf... Who cares, they must hear us celebrate, especially as we'll have the derby against them soon and this could aswell sound as a warning. We're fully charged, we're coming for you and we'll take no prisoners, mark my words!
I must be honest, there also have been tense moments: when Hanke fell in the moat and almost drowned, I felt a little worried. The road from an ice-cold moat to the morgue isn't that long, you know.
And it wasn't even midnight, go figure!
When he almost drowned also in the Jacuzzi, though, several hours later, I asked Sigi not to play him again in case of rain. What if he drowns in a puddle?
Now I'm going to bed as I'm dead tired dear journal: Sigi passed out on the couch a couple of hours ago and so did one of the team's medics (how useful) and I've been playing FIFA since, but now I really feel like my eyes are closing.
I only hope all the people who got MIA tonight in the park find their way out.
It's not good when you're home just after lunch, the telephone vibrates and the caller ID says "Sigi".
Especially when Sigi is actually in the same house you're in.
"Hello?"
"KK! Are you busy? I need to talk to you as soon as possible!"
"I'm upstairs Sigi, what about meeting... Let me think... At the second floor? And what about now?"
"S*!t, do you really want me to get up there? You're so mean!" -click-
He's getting old. He doesn't even want to walk up the staircase anymore... And this reminds me that I haven't claimed my bedroom back. I'm still sleeping in the bedroom that should be reserved to the guests.
When Sigi enters the room, though, I see he's fuming. Like, litrerally fuming. I've hardly ever seen him so angry.
"You know, KK? I would've loved to buy Ivanschitz from Mainz. That guy's pure class!"
"I know, Sigi. I like him a lot too. What about asking them if thhey're interested in swapping him with Arango?"
"That's the point. Look at this bloody tweet!"
"They sold him, KK! Behind my back, without even notifying me! I would've traded him for Ivanschitz, now we have nothing! Absolutely nothing! I'm gonna kill them all one day KK, even better... I AM RESIGNING! They do not deserve me! BLOODY KRAUTS!"
It actually takes me a while to make him reconsider and calm down. Let alone make him realize that the ones he called "bloody Krauts" are Germans like he is.
I understand him, I would be fuming too if I were him. The board sold our best player to Schalke 04, without even asking. We could've traded him to Mainz for Ivanschitz, they would've almost certainly accepted the offer. Yet, we can't.
We'll have to find another way. There's another player on the market, maybe. Or maybe we could employ someone we already have in house like Rupp or Mlapa... What I seem to understand is that we won't see Ivanschitz in a Gladbach shirt anytime soon.
Not much indeed, but at least enough to find a suitable replacement hopefully.
What I didn't like is that I had already approached Mainz to trade Arango for Ivanschitz... And you imagine what happened then:
Without Arango, Mainz would never sell us Ivanschitz for the amount we would be able to pay (not much indeed). So Sigi had to look for a replacement elsewhere...
And where would Sigi look first for a replacement, in your opinion? That's right, the MLS!
Damn the board. Hate when they go behind your back and sell players. Good luck with Adu. Hopefully you can get him to finally reach his full potential.
Damn the board. Hate when they go behind your back and sell players. Good luck with Adu. Hopefully you can get him to finally reach his full potential.
Well, apparently he'll have to fight for the spot with left midfielder Rupp (who played against Hoffenheim), and most of all with Mlapa (who has played the derby against Fortuna and the match against Nuremberg as a left winger as I was experimenting a 4-3-3).
Adu just played a couple of minutes in the derby (what a win!) and then half an hour against Nuremberg: I plan on playing him more though.
Nice few games there. Maybe you won't miss Arango too much.
We have the depth to not miss him: I've tried a different formation in the derby and then in the match against Nuremberg to see if wingers like Mlapa and Adu would fit and it looked like it's so... Probably going to play a 4-5-1 against Barcelona though, I'm even considering playing 5 at the back for the first time in the season!
Meanwhile, the crucial moment is getting closer and closer...
So Sigi signed Freddy; much Adu about nothing, I'm afraid. Seems to be working out, though. Nice run of form heading into the match against Barcelona. Gotta find a way to win at home somehow, don't want to go to Camp Nou needing a victory.
Not sure AC Milan made the right move. I heard Joe doesn't have the Hart. I thought Ozil would go for more dough, but what do I know? Red Bulls won again...damn!
Couple of crazy transfers. Bayern building an impressive team but losing Ribery is a big blow.
Yeah, but they don't look like they really need him anyway. After a bad start of the season, they're strolling past each and every opponent: Tevez is such a beast, they've turned into a steamroller...
And about steamrollers, we've survived the first leg of the epic clash against Barcelona! YAY!
After the Barcelona match, we had to face probably the most difficult month of our season, with three matches against three teams in the upper part of the table...
What to say... The season hasn't started in the best possible way for us, but lately we found our balance and results are starting to come now... I'm so proud of the boys!
Excellent string of results against top half teams. Win over Dortmund stands out.
Not sure about the Barca result. Good not to lose or concede an away goal but gets even harder now, need a result at the Nou camp. Maybe you can go 0-0 again and go through on pens, might nick an away goal to win it even. Either way it's going to be a good one I think.
Holding Barcelona scoreless is certainly an accomplishment but I'm not sure who has the upper hand in the next match. If Sigi can motivate the team to score that first goal then things could really get interesting. Kind of hoping that match will be available to watch here in the states. Things are looking good for Gladbach in league; should be a real boost for the team.
Not sure about the Barca result. Good not to lose or concede an away goal but gets even harder now, need a result at the Nou camp.
Yeah, the good thing is that a draw would suffice (0-0 to bring the match to extra time, any other result to advance) but drawing in Barcelona looks almost impossible. Well, at least we tried.
Yeah, I tried to buy tickets and make a vacation out of it, but the match is already sold out!
Number nine and climbing.
Don't worry, ESPN has got you covered.
The month started with a highly modified Gladbach team taking on Eintracht Frankfurt for their league match, and winning not without some difficulties. Our backup keeper Heimeroth played a great match and denied them a couple of interesting chances:
But we all know that match was just an appetizer for the main event of the month... The UCL clash between Barcelona and Gladbach! As ESPN has just released a highlight video covering both the first and second leg... Let's just have a look at it:
Yeah, apparently tey were just too strong for us tonight. Still, seeing them playing tight at the back and then exploiting the counter has been a little satisfaction.
Rated E For Everyone.
Comments
Gladbach have the upper hand in six-goal thriller
With Real Madrid already sure of advancing facing Helsingborgs, already sure of being eliminated, the other match of Group H featured Juventus needing a win in Gladbach to advance.
No surprise then when we saw Juventus hitting the ground running. And boy, Giovinco DOES run indeed!
It was him to set up the 1-0 goal as he outpaced Ecuele Manga to reach the end of the pitch and then to send in a sweet cross that Lisandro Lopez gently headed past Ter Stegen. Unfortunately for him (luckily enough for us, though) his match ended at minute 28, when Ecuele Manga brought him down in a desperate try to avoid him going one-on-one with Ter Stegen. Yellow for the defender, forced substitution for Giovinco. Vucinic came in instead, and shortly after it was indeed him to score the 2-0 with a screamer from outside the box.
What was starting to look like a nightmare got a little better when de Camargo scored the 2-1 goal, giving Gladbach at least a little hope, right before the half-time break.
In the second half, though, it was Juventus to start again in an attacking fashion, winning a penalty at minute 59 when Brouwers tripped Lopez in the box to prevent him from scoring. Of course, Lopez didn't miss the penalty: Ter Stegen could only brush against it before it went in exactly at the top corner. 3-1.
Yet, Gladbach didn't give up: this was de Camargo's night apparently, as he managed to reduce the gap once again by scoring the 3-2 goal with a great dribbling that allowed him to get rid of Bonuci and then with a clinical finish with his left foot.
With Borussia going all out attack and Juve struggling, it was only a matter of time. Minute 74: de Jong (subbed in for a dead tired de Camargo) makes fun of Chiellini right into the box, and in response Chiellini brings him down from behind. Red card and penalty! Hanke on the ball, impossible to reach for Buffon. Gladbach equalized!
From there on, with the situation completely changed, it was Juventus to go all out attack and to put Gladbach under siege, but Sigi's defence stood their ground perfectly and managed to bring home a hard fought point which sees them advance to the playoffs.
Unfortunately we didn't have much time to celebrate after the Juventus match, because Arango decided to drop a bombshell on us a couple of days after the match. Sigi must be a little unlucky with left midfielders, as this is exactly what happened with Zakuani back in his Seattle Sounders days:
Two matches before the winter break and the transfer window... Hope we can hold out until then!
Shame that Arango wants to leave but at least you know now, with the window not too far away you have time to prepare for it.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do much during the following match against FC Bayern: they played us off the park. The only good news is that Martin Stranzl came back after the injury, and managed to make Torres (who entered the pitch for Tevez in the second half) almost disappear.
Guess what? He could benefit our team a lot now that Arango is officially leaving...
I guess Juan is gone...good riddance fool, Sigi will find someone better. As far as FC Bayern, what can you do? Barcelona will be tough, but take heart from the Juventus match, anything can happen.
I know! Might do something for Barcelona, if I can get it done in a reasonable time...
Nah, adjusting game settings like putting the difficulty to "easy peasy", raising all the CPU error sliders to 100 and lowering all of mine to 0 are things that I'm reserving for the moment I face Inter.
But you don't want to see what happens to me while I play, though: there are videos of me playing against some friends around the net, and they're hilarious. I'm another one who seems to get a little too involved in matches from time to time apparently.
We surely need a sort of miracle there... Meanwhile, let's just enjoy a couple of days of relax after a kinda lively night...
Dear journal,
what a night this has been. It's seven o'clock in the morning and I can clearly see from the window some people still wandering around the park like... Like they don't know where they are anymore.
That's what happens when Sigi invites like everyone on Earth at his home for the New Year's Eve party.
That's right, he said HIS home! Apparently the castle isn't mine anymore dear journal, I wonder if he's going to even ask me to pay the rent one of these days...
Of course, he put it to me in a slightly different way: "KK, I took the liberty to invite a couple of friends at the castle for the New Year's Eve party, hope this ain't a problem for you" he said.
Well, that "couple of friends" turned out being all the first team players (with their wives, fiancées, girlfriends and such), the physios, the team's medics ("Well KK, we're gonna need a couple of medics after all... What if someone passes out?" he said), all the board members with their families and last but not least the U-21 squad. With girlfriends and a couple of crushes, aswell.
Just a couple of friends.
Well, at least he didn't ask me to help him set up the park with lights and such... And I must admit he did a very good with it job after all, this is what he did to the driveway for example:
What to say dear Journal... With hindsight, it's been a great idea and the party has been a success. A huge success, I dare say. So, fair play to Sigi.
And fair play also to Pat Herrmann, who delighted the crowd with his great DJing skills. I was ready to bet he wouldn't be able to put two records in sync to save his life, but he surprised everyone with a great show. Something Mike Fucito would be proud of:
The roar of the audience when he started playing "Turn up the radio" by Madonna has probably been heard also in Düsseldorf... Who cares, they must hear us celebrate, especially as we'll have the derby against them soon and this could aswell sound as a warning. We're fully charged, we're coming for you and we'll take no prisoners, mark my words!
I must be honest, there also have been tense moments: when Hanke fell in the moat and almost drowned, I felt a little worried. The road from an ice-cold moat to the morgue isn't that long, you know.
And it wasn't even midnight, go figure!
When he almost drowned also in the Jacuzzi, though, several hours later, I asked Sigi not to play him again in case of rain. What if he drowns in a puddle?
Now I'm going to bed as I'm dead tired dear journal: Sigi passed out on the couch a couple of hours ago and so did one of the team's medics (how useful) and I've been playing FIFA since, but now I really feel like my eyes are closing.
I only hope all the people who got MIA tonight in the park find their way out.
Happy New Year dear journal,
Especially when Sigi is actually in the same house you're in.
"Hello?"
"KK! Are you busy? I need to talk to you as soon as possible!"
"I'm upstairs Sigi, what about meeting... Let me think... At the second floor? And what about now?"
"S*!t, do you really want me to get up there? You're so mean!" -click-
He's getting old. He doesn't even want to walk up the staircase anymore... And this reminds me that I haven't claimed my bedroom back. I'm still sleeping in the bedroom that should be reserved to the guests.
When Sigi enters the room, though, I see he's fuming. Like, litrerally fuming. I've hardly ever seen him so angry.
"You know, KK? I would've loved to buy Ivanschitz from Mainz. That guy's pure class!"
"I know, Sigi. I like him a lot too. What about asking them if thhey're interested in swapping him with Arango?"
"That's the point. Look at this bloody tweet!"
It actually takes me a while to make him reconsider and calm down. Let alone make him realize that the ones he called "bloody Krauts" are Germans like he is.
I understand him, I would be fuming too if I were him. The board sold our best player to Schalke 04, without even asking. We could've traded him to Mainz for Ivanschitz, they would've almost certainly accepted the offer. Yet, we can't.
We'll have to find another way. There's another player on the market, maybe. Or maybe we could employ someone we already have in house like Rupp or Mlapa... What I seem to understand is that we won't see Ivanschitz in a Gladbach shirt anytime soon.
What I didn't like is that I had already approached Mainz to trade Arango for Ivanschitz... And you imagine what happened then:
Without Arango, Mainz would never sell us Ivanschitz for the amount we would be able to pay (not much indeed). So Sigi had to look for a replacement elsewhere...
And where would Sigi look first for a replacement, in your opinion? That's right, the MLS!
Adu just played a couple of minutes in the derby (what a win!) and then half an hour against Nuremberg: I plan on playing him more though.
Meanwhile, the crucial moment is getting closer and closer...
Yeah, but they don't look like they really need him anyway. After a bad start of the season, they're strolling past each and every opponent: Tevez is such a beast, they've turned into a steamroller...
And about steamrollers, we've survived the first leg of the epic clash against Barcelona! YAY!
After the Barcelona match, we had to face probably the most difficult month of our season, with three matches against three teams in the upper part of the table...
What to say... The season hasn't started in the best possible way for us, but lately we found our balance and results are starting to come now... I'm so proud of the boys!
Not sure about the Barca result. Good not to lose or concede an away goal but gets even harder now, need a result at the Nou camp. Maybe you can go 0-0 again and go through on pens, might nick an away goal to win it even. Either way it's going to be a good one I think.
We built some momentum, now we just need to keep it going. Hopefully we will be able to profit from it at least in the league!
Well, according to ESPN the clash won't be broadcasted/streamed live, but we could expect some video highlights after the match:
Number nine and climbing.
The month started with a highly modified Gladbach team taking on Eintracht Frankfurt for their league match, and winning not without some difficulties. Our backup keeper Heimeroth played a great match and denied them a couple of interesting chances:
But we all know that match was just an appetizer for the main event of the month... The UCL clash between Barcelona and Gladbach! As ESPN has just released a highlight video covering both the first and second leg... Let's just have a look at it:
Looks like your took heart from the result, 3 very good games after it. On the home straight now, looking like you'll finish quite strongly.