It was another season to celebrate for Gladbach, even if it might not have looked like it would be early on in the campaign. - © © imago / Müller
It was another season to celebrate for Gladbach, even if it might not have looked like it would be early on in the campaign. - © © imago / Müller

Season Review 2015/16: Borussia Mönchengladbach

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Recovering from one of the worst starts to a season by any club ever, Borussia Mönchengladbach ripped the form guide and the history books to shreds by climbing the table and clinching European football for the fifth time in six years.

Season in a nutshell

Glabach came into the season off the back of a spectacular second half to the previous campaign, which had them top of the shots in terms of points won in the calendar year. That had inspired them to third place and there was a glowing sense of optimism at Borussia-Park, before five successive defeats at the start of 2015/16 darkened the mood considerably. Lucien Favre, the architect of their recent success, drew his own conclusions by leaving and Andre Schubert took the reins. The new head coach won his first six games in charge and the Foals notched a remarkable 29 points from a possible 36 up to the midway stage of the season.

Top three games

MD15: Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 FC Bayern München

Schubert's tenth game as Gladbach coach was arguably his biggest challenge yet. With seven wins and two draws from the previous matches, Borussia were full of confidence and while they surprisingly played with a five-man defence, the Foals hit Bayern with force on the counterattack. They rode their luck in the first half, but after the intervial Oscar Wendt, Lars Stindl and Fabian Johnson tore Bayern apart in 14 second-half minutes, with Franck Ribery's late strike merely consolation for the hitherto seemingly invincible Bayern.

MD28: Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-0 Hertha Berlin

Gladbach were six points behind third-placed Hertha Berlin ahead of their Matchday 28 clash – a true six-pointer. However, the hosts were by far the better side and took Hertha to pieces with two goals from Thorgan Hazard and further strikes from Ibrahima Traore, Andre Hahn and Patrick Herrmann on his return from injury.

MD9: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-5 Borussia Mönchengladbach

After an even first half, Borussia stepped up the gears in the second 45 minutes, flexing their muscles with both Raffael and Hahn on target twice and Mahmoud Dahoud finishing off a particularly impressive day at the office.

MVP

There were plenty of impressive performances among the ranks, with Dahoud showing further glimpses of his earlier promise by chipping with five goals and nine assists, and Hahn celebrating a particularly impressive first season at the club. Yet but one man who seems to be getting better and better with age is Raffael, who is our choice as Most Valuable Player. With 13 goals and ten assists, the Brazilian once again made a telling contribution to another successful season, while his link-up play was a fundamental feature of the side's swift, counterattacking style.

- © gettyimages / Mika Vollmann