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Sometimes it's time to swap pictures.
Get off the wall with the old, yellowed photos.
Create space for new and fresh things.
Borussia Mönchengladbach, the eternal icon of the seventies, has finally been able to experience a new moment that fans will remember for many years to come: the Niederrhein club made it to the last sixteen of the Champions League for the first time.
For the first time since 1977, when the Gladbachers were able to advance to the final in the European Champions Cup, the forerunner competition, and reached the quarter-finals in the following season, they are again among the best 16 club teams in Europe.
The age-old memories - throwing the rifle at the game against Inter Milan in 1971, the epic European Cup battles with Real Madrid and Liverpool FC - have served as evidence that this club can also achieve something at the highest international level.
The new picture is that of the players as they stood together on the sidelines of the field on Wednesday after the 2-0 (0-2) at Real Madrid and looked at a monitor.
They watched the final phase of the parallel game between Inter and Shakhtar Donetsk shivering.
There were still endless five minutes of a total of eight minutes of added time to complete.
The Milanese overran the opposing goal.
Had they scored a goal, the premier class would have been over for Gladbach.
"Whistle at last," shouted midfielder Christoph Kramer.
There was no more goal.
The Borussia ran onto the lawn, danced and celebrated.
Gladbach scored against every opponent - and scored many goals
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"Those are insane feelings that arise when you don't have much left but hope," said Kramer afterwards, who at first couldn't quite believe it.
He wasn't alone in that.
“It's amazing,” said captain Lars Stindl: “We're playing our worst game in the preliminary round and we're still going through.
But we deserved that with our last appearances. ”Both are true.
They were the only team to score points against every opponent in a difficult group.
You scored the most goals after FC Bayern (18) and level with FC Barcelona (16).
They shone like in the two runaway victories against Donetsk (6-0 and 4-0), they suffered setbacks: They led against Inter until the 90th minute, then had to accept the 2-2.
The 3: 3 equalizer against Milan was revoked shortly before the end.
In the first leg against Real they led 2-0 - but still could not win.
Somehow, they agreed, they had earned the luck they had on Wednesday.
After making it to the round of 16, the Borussia cheer on the lawn in Madrid.
Before that they had trembled for a long time
Source: Getty Images
"I'm very proud of the team and I'm very happy for the fans and the club that we as Borussia Mönchengladbach were able to achieve something like this," said Marco Rose.
For the coach, who, despite the success and the previous nervous strain, seemed very calm and collected, reaching the round of 16 was also a confirmation of the work he had started almost a year and a half ago.
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He had given the team - this is actually a certain parallel to the great Gladbach teams in the 1970s - a clear direction: Back then, Borussia stood for furious offensive football, currently for a variant of it based on pressing and counter-pressing.
She plays fast and offensively, but is currently learning to avoid risks in order to be able to survive against nominally much stronger opponents.
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This didn't work on Wednesday in Madrid.
Rose therefore spoke of “the hardship” that had been paid.
“If you don't work with the ball against Real Madrid and against the ball with the conviction you need, then it will be difficult,” said the 44-year-old.
But the team can grow especially from these experiences.
In fact, Gladbach was well served with the result.
Real, who have already won the most prestigious European club competition 13 times, could have scored significantly more goals than Karim Benzema's two goals.
"Left too much space for Real"
Borussia Mönchengladbach was unable to match the performance from the home game against the Spaniards in the 2-0 away draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Coach Marco Rose explains why.
Source: Stats Perform News
But the advance into the knockout phase could also mean an important step in stabilizing their development for the Gladbach company.
The losses that Corona brought in the 2020 financial year (around 37 million euros) can be cushioned by the additional income.
Even before the draw for the round of 16, the club had earned EUR 31.95 million in prizes.
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That puts Max Eberl in a better position when it comes to keeping the team together or complementing them.
Eight player contracts expire.
The sports director had already announced that he wanted to extend the contracts with high performers such as Denis Zakaria, Nico Elvedi and Matthias Ginter, who are still tied until 2022, ahead of time.
It is also clear, however, that the appearances in the Champions League have aroused the appetite of international competitors.
This also applies to the two strikers Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram.
But here too it could be helpful that Gladbach fills its own international perspective with life.
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That could also be an interesting aspect for Rose's future - but in two ways.
The coach, who only came from Salzburg in 2019, was last traded as a candidate at some clubs.
Borussia Dortmund is one of them.
The international successes should increase the general appreciation for the coach, whose contract runs until 2022.
However, a continuation of the Gladbach development should also be attractive - now that Rose has felt what it feels like to make history with this association.
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