Borussia Moenchengladbach enjoyed an historic first Champions League win on Wednesday as their 4-2 home victory over Sevilla ended the Spaniards’ hopes of reaching the knock-out phase.
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A win here will give them a chance of qualifying for the Europa League but I believe they cannot qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League as Juventus will have them on the head to head with the away goals and the maxium points they that Borussia can finish on is eight which would be level with Juve if they lost both of their remaining games (which is also unlikely). The club hadn’t played top-flight European football since reaching the semifinals of 1977/78 European Cup.
Vitolo clipped home late on, before Stindl’s instant 25-yard strike restored Gladbach’s three-goal lead, only for Sevilla to reduce the arrears again with Ever Banega’s stoppage-time penalty. “We wanted to show that we could win in the Champions League”, Stindl said after already-eliminated ‘Gladbach’s first victory in the competition. “The demand was too much”. “Everyone played to their limit”, the U.S. worldwide said.
Juventus sit atop the standings in Group D with 11 points followed by Manchester City (9 points), Monchengladbach (5 points) and Sevilla (3 points).
Borussia, who had lost three times this year to Sevilla, including twice in the Europa League, took revenge, recording a first home win over a Spanish club in 30 years to continue their excellent run under André Schubert. The midfielder capitalized on Granit Xhaka’s low shot to tape home at the far post corner from very close range.
Raffael then added the third when Stindl drew two defenders and slipped the ball through the backline to the Brazilian, who was clinical in his finishing on 78 minutes.
Banega converted a late penalty in the dying minutes after Xhaka had fouled Grzegorz Krychowiak, but Gladbach held on during an otherwise satisfying night for Andre Schubert’s men.
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“We want to be in a good position for third place in the group”.
