The professionals from Borussia Mönchengladbach kept their celebrations very brief on the Betzenberg.
After going to his own fans, the laborious progress at 1. FC Kaiserslautern was ticked off, from now on only the football classic that was eagerly awaited at the beginning of the 59th Bundesliga season: Gladbach against FC Bayern counts.
Floodlights.
23,000 fans.
If the cup game was compulsory at FCK, the test of strength with Julian Nagelsmann's star ensemble becomes a kind of freestyle for Borussia.
“There are a few things that we still have to work on. It was a step in the right direction. On Friday, a completely different quality, a different kind of football is coming our way. We have to throw everything in, ”said winner scorer Lars Stindl, who scored the important winner again in the absence of strikers Breel Embolo and Marcus Thuram. On Friday evening (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and Sat.1 / DAZN) it will then apply. "We will send eleven onto the pitch who will do everything to create something special on the first match day," announced Stindl.
For coach Adi Hütter, the difficult 1-0 win in the Palatinate was a relief.
Three years after his unsuccessful debut in Frankfurt (0: 5 against Bayern, Pokal-Aus in Ulm), the debut on the Lower Rhine was at least successful.
“I've got off to a worse start in Germany as far as the cup is concerned.
So I'm very, very happy to have won today, ”said the Austrian, grinning.
Hütter would have liked to see his team win higher, warned that, unlike against the third division club, such a weak exploitation of chances could "fall on the head" against the record champions, but at the same time he was also able to thank the extremely strong Yann Sommer, who had several Big chances of the FCK thwarted.
He does not yet know exactly which staff Hütter can plan against Bayern with. The most recently injured Alassane Plea and Jonas Hofmann were already back on board on Monday evening. Embolo and Denis Zakaria, who is coveted by other clubs, are not yet options for the opening cracker. The 51-year-old Hütter sees “big question marks” behind the last ailing Thuram and full-back Ramy Bensebaini, who was solidly represented in the cup by the 18-year-old American Joe Scally.
Defense chief Matthias Ginter, whose contract like that of Zakaria expires in the summer of 2022, meanwhile, gave hope to stay. When asked whether he will still play for Gladbach in the second round of the cup after the transfer has ended, the 27-year-old replied on ARD: “I firmly assume that” he added: “I think Max Eberl has it all well explained why no offer to extend has been received yet. We have Corona, these are difficult times for all clubs. You will see accordingly. "Hütter commented:" Of course I am happy if Matze stays there, of course. "Ginter had" played a very good game "on the Betzenberg.