For the third season in a row under Lucien Favre, Borussia Mönchengladbach improved their league position as the Swiss coach continues to develop his system and squad. After their fifth place finish last year which took them into the Europa League, third place this term has qualified them for the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history, while also returning the team to the top table of European football for the first time since the 1970s. Gladbach took a short while to warm up this year as they tried to juggle qualification for the Europa League group stage with bedding in some new players. But they first tasted defeat in round 11 when a freak own goal from Christoph Kramer resulted in them losing away to Borussia Dortmund. A positive results in their Europa League group as well as progress in the German Cup meant they were still fighting on all three fronts at the mid point of the season and a position of fourth in the league. A combination of attacking football with lightning fast counter attacks produced an exciting brand of football that many teams found it tough to deal with. After Christmas their form in the league remained very strong and eventually settled in third position behind the rampant Bayern München and chasers Wolfsburg. Elimination from the Europa League at the hands of eventual winners Sevilla was a blow and that was followed by a surprise defeat in the cup by third division Arminia Bielefeld which left them to focus solely on the league. Other sides may have lost focus at this stage but after being beaten by Sevilla, Gladbach went a total of eleven games unbeaten in the league until losing to Augsburg on the final day of the season. Their position in the league was secured with a fantastic display against their main rivals for that position, Bayer Leverkusen in round 32 when they won 3 - 0 and controlled the game. A number of players have stood out for Gladbach this year including their goalkeeper Yann Sommer who played in every round and was very consistent. Martin Stranzl and Tony Jantschke were also very solid in defence although Stranzl was frequently injured and missed the season run in. Their midfield was their strongest area and both Granit Xhaka and Christoph Kramer made thirty appearances at the heart of it while a host of wide players did the damage. Of those Patrick Hermann had a break out year scoring eleven goals in a very strong season. Raffael and Max Kruse also got into double figures for goals scored although Kruse has announced he is leaving to go to Wolfsburg next season. Of the many players who performed well the best would have to be Kramer who anchored the midfield but also got forward to help the strikers and create goals. He is leaving the club as well to go back to parent club Bayer Leverkusen which means Gladbach are losing two very strong players who will both need replacing. That will be one of the challenges facing Favre over the summer along with making sure that his squad is ready for the Champions League and perhaps another top four finish as they aim to emulate this excellent season.
