Five years ago this month marks the final chapter of one of the most exciting Bundesliga comeback stories ever. It’s the story of how Borussia Mönchengladbach stepped back from the brink of relegation.
A dreadful season
The 2010/11 season had begun disastrously for the Borussen. By February 2011 they had collected only 16 points from 22 games and had conceded 56 goals. They hadn’t won at home for 9 games.They were bottom of the league and 7 points from safety. The transfer window was closed and relegation seemed unavoidable. In February 2011 a new coach was appointed who was to bring about a remarkable transformation in fortunes. His name was Lucien Favre.
Last minute fightback
His appointment led to an immediate improvement in form. In the next 12 games the team accrued 20 points, conceded a paltry 9 goals and won five of the last 8 home games. It was enough to shift them to third from bottom and avoid automatic relegation.
Although they had to do now to secure top tier status was to beat local rivals VfL Bochum over two relegation/promotion games.
Last gasp winner
On 19 May 2011 Borussia faced Bochum in front of a capacity home crowd. The score remained 0:0 for the full 90 minutes. It was only in the 3rd minute of added time that the home side eventually broke the deadlock. A long throw into the box was carried on by a header. A second header from Camargo was parried to the side by the keeper with a fingertip save. The cross back across goal was mis-controlled by players from both sides until finally a shot at point blank range from Camargo put the ball over the line. The crowd went wild, the Bochum players sank to the ground in despair. A few seconds later the first leg was over – Borussia had won 1:0. There is a video of the dramatic last seconds of this game on Facebook.
In the second leg Borussia trailed for most of the match following an own-goal in the 24th minute from Nordweidt. But with 18 minutes remaining Marco Reus scored. Borussia Mönchengladbach won 2:1 on aggregate and remained in the top tier.
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