One 'Mann's Journey

GROUP STAGE DRAW

UEFA President Michel Platini alongside compatriot Patrick Vieira helped draw out 32 teams for the UEFA Champions’ League group stage which included none other than four German clubs. One of the hot contenders for this year’s addition is Bayern Munich who has been paired up with Italian, Russian and Austrian champions Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg and Red Bull Salzburg.





Bundesliga title holders Borussia Dortmund has also been handed an equally hard group as their Bavarian rivals with Manchester City, FC Porto and Spartak Moscow completing group G.





Schalke was matched up with none other than Real Madrid but will be favourites to progress with the inclusion of Anderlecht and FC Nordsjaelland.





Surprise package Borussia Mönchengladbach has been one side that hasn’t seen the luck of the draw, being paired up with Manchester United, Valencia and Lille.





Elsewhere, Chelsea is matched with oil rich Paris Saint-Germain while London rivals Arsenal sit as comfortable favourites to progress in group A.

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READY TO FIGHT

Borussia Mönchengladbach boss Jens Lehmann has promised football fans he will deliver a strong showing after being handed a tough UEFA Champions’ League group.

The Germans were piled on by Manchester United, Valencia and Lille and are favourites to finish rock bottom in the group but Lehmann believes his squad’s togetherness will their chances the world of good.

“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Gladbach is a unit. We don’t have the likes of Van Persie or Soldado in the team but we have all the ingredients to beat every single team in our group.

“We know it will tough but when you qualify for the Champions’ League you know will come up against the best. It was expected so we just have give it our all.

“Evidently Manchester United is the favourites so they will be a big challenge and Valencia also are very impressive at the Mestalla but we can take points from both and I feel we are also adequately prepared to steal wins from Lille and Valencia at Borussia-Park. Going through is a possibility for us.”

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Top Summer Transfers 2012/13

Laurent Koscielny – Manchester City - £30.5m
Gerard Deulofeu – Manchester City - £10m
Fernandinho - Manchester City - £34m
Jesus Navas – Manchester City - £15m
Christian Eriksen – Manchester City - £18m
Yohan Cabaye – Manchester City - £20.5m

Andre Schurlle – Chelsea - £18m
Marouane Fellaini – Chelsea - £23m

Leighton Baines – Manchester United - £21.5m
Andre Ayew – Manchester United - £15m
Wilfried Bony – Manchester United - £14m

Youssouf Mulumbu – Tottenham - £12m
Nicolas Gaitan – Tottenham - £10.5m
Hernanes – Tottenham - £23m

Radamel Falcao – Monaco - £51m
Joao Moutinho – Monaco - £27m
James Rodriguez – Monaco - £34m

Morgan Schneiderlin – PSG - £14m
Javier Hernandez – PSG - £13m
Benat – PSG - £14m

Bruno Martins Indi – Hamburg - £14m
Martin Skrtel – Hamburg - £9m

Victor Wanyama – Ajax - £14m
Guilherme Siqueira – Ajax - £21m
Keisuke Honda – Ajax - £26m

Aleksandar Kolarov – Fiorentina - £7m

John Obi Mikel – Napoli - £9.5m

Nathan Redmond – Celtic - £12m
Oribe Peralta – Celtic - £15m

Neymar – Barcelona - £25m
Marek Hamsik – Barcelona - £39m
Stevan Jovetic – Barcelona - £22m

Toni Kroos – Real Madrid - £33m
Dani Carvajal – Real Madrid - £6m

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September 2012

1.09.12 – Weserstadion
Werder Bremen v Gladbach

2 – 0
Petersen (18, 84) – De Bruyne (86)

15.09.12 – Borussia-Park
Gladbach v Schalke

1 – 0
Hanke (80)
(Luuk De Jong out for 3 months)

19.09.12 – Borussia-Park
Gladbach v Manchester United

0 – 1
Giggs (81)

22.09.12 – MAGE SOLAR Stadion
Freiburg v Gladbach

0 – 1
Herrmann (62)

26.09.12 – Borussia-Park
Gladbach v Wolfsburg

1 – 1
Hanke (1) – Olic (90+1)

29.09.12 – Mercedes-Benz Arena
Stuttgart v Gladbach

0 – 3
Mlapa (9, 30, 56)

Bundesliga Table

Gladbach Player of the Month

Mike Hanke

Hanke was a constant threat for us throughout the month and got us a few vital goals. Replacing the injured Luuk De Jong, he’s come in very well and got the job done for us this month both creating and scoring. I hope he continues.

Review: It was a solid month for us and we did very well considering the fatigue and injury problems we have suffered from. The tiredness of our players looks like an issue with many not used to European football every other week but we are on course domestically so far and have performed well on all stages. It’s all about getting results now.

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