A week is a long time in the Bundesliga, but for Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach, if Sunday afternoon is anything to go by, this season promises to contain the lessons of several regular years. For Leverkusen, having had such an invigorating liftoff on Kasper Hjulmand’s debut with a win over Eintracht Frankfurt, it was a reminder of how much work there is still to do. But for Gladbach, it was confirmation that yes, there is, at last, the first shard of light at the end of the tunnel.
Last weekend Gladbach – five times Bundesliga winners, and double Uefa Cup champions in the glory years of the 1970s – were humiliated at home by Werder Bremen, beaten 4-0 and getting off lightly, with Werder’s 3-0 home loss to Freiburg on Saturday underlining just what a bad defeat that was. After the firing of the former Leverkusen boss Gerardo Seoane and the trip to face the 2024 champions, the Monday morning mood could not be more different.
