Eintracht Frankfurt vs Monchengladbach preview - Gladbach are looking for revenge
Posted Thursday, April 16, 2015 by PA
Borussia Monchengladbach will be seeking revenge when they head to Eintracht Frankfurt this weekend.
A 3-1 reverse at home to the Eagles was arguably Gladbach's worst game of the season so far, and midfielder Granit Xhaka is keen to prove this Friday night that it was merely an exception which proves the rule that the Foals are having a great season.
"Of course we want revenge for that game," said the Swiss on his club's website. "We didn't play well, particularly in the second half of that game and we were punished for our mistakes.
"I don't know if maybe we were a bit tired back then with all the midweek matches, but something like this cannot happen to us again tomorrow.
"We've been playing a great season and we're not letting setbacks, like getting knocked out of the cup to Bielefeld, knock us off course.
"We proved that emphatically against Dortmund last Saturday and I'm optimistic that we can keep our run going in Frankfurt too, if we play the way we have been doing lately."
Four wins in a row have taken the Foals to within touching distance of a place in the Champions League next season.
Should they win in Frankfurt, Schalke lose in Wolfsburg and Augsburg get no more than a point against Stuttgart, they will be home and dry with five games of the season to go.
Ideally, though, they would still like to hold off the challenge of Bayer Leverkusen to secure a place in the Champions League group stage rather than risk the fate that befell them three years ago, when they were knocked out in the play-off by Dynamo Kiev.
"We're working hard on being as successful as possible," added Xhaka.
Frankfurt could still join Gladbach in representing the Bundesliga in Europe next season, if they stop missing opportunities to close the gap on the top six.
That remains four points and their coach Thomas Schaaf is not dwelling on the numerous occasions recently in which they have failed to take advantage of stumbles of those teams currently just ahead of them.
"Of course we could just grumble and groan, but that's not my style," said coach Thomas Schaaf.
"My style is to look forwards and see the positives."
They will have to do without their top-scorer Alexander Meier, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury.
"He's not a player you can simply replace like for like," Schaaf said. "The question is whether we stick to our usual system or if we're flexible."
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