THE FUSE

Indeed, Gladbach are facing the much-cited weeks of truth: their next opponents are St. Pauli, Cologne, Heidenheim, Leipzig and Mainz. In the first half of the season, Gladbach earned 13 points and conceded only one goal against these five teams. Repeating this record would put Gladbach, and thus Polanski, on safe ground. After the recent matches against the big teams in the league, the VfL coach, who got off to a strong start, now averages only 1.09 points – less than his predecessor Gerardo Seoane (1.13).