When Borussia Mönchengladbach dominated Germany (and almost Europe)

Consistency over the years is something that very few teams can say they have had throughout the history of football since, as they say, it is easier to get there than to maintain it. Borussia Mönchengladbach had a golden decade that coincided with the 1970s since it practically began in 1970 and ended in 1979.

The club did not suffer the departure of many players or the change of manager that it went through in the middle of that decade of success.

History of Borussia Mönchengladbach

In 1899, a group of young players from TC Germania Gladbach, a multi-sports club in the city of Mönchengladbach, left the institution and organized to form their own club in 1900, focused only on football, which they would call FK Borussia 1900. In At that time, a sport recently imported from England did not have the greatest logistical facilities or social support that it has today, which was an obstacle to the growth of the club in those first years.

After the organization of football in Germany improved, the club gained certain notoriety as it was one of the most competitive in the region, although until the birth of the Bundesliga in 1963, they alternated between the first and second tier of the German football system. Their first and only professional title in their history until the 1970s was the 1960 DFB Pokal, where they beat Karlsruher.

Weisweiler

Hans Weisweiler took over as manager of Gladbach in 1964, when the club was in Bundesliga 2. Weisweiler had been a football player for Köln although of his four years at the club, he spent three as player-manager. After a few brief spells with Rheydter SpV and the Germany national team (as an assistant), he returned to Köln, three years later moving to the city rival, Viktoria Köln, where he would become known in Germany.

The beginning of Fohlenelf

Weisweiler arrived at a Gladbach with financial problems, so he could not try to improve the team by looking for players from other teams, so he had to focus on working with the youth teams and establishing the basis of what would be a team known as Fohlenelf (the colts). The manager was characterized by giving the players freedom in attack so that they could demonstrate their talent without so many tactical restrictions. Weisweiler's hand had its effect since only a year after his arrival they were celebrating promotion to the Bundesliga.

The club showed its virtues from the beginning, finishing in the middle of the table in its first season in the Bundesliga and in the following three seasons it finished at the top (twice in third position), in which it was the team that scored the most goals. I score in the competition. Their offensive power was fearsome, which led many of their players to be signed by other teams, although Weisweiler knew how to replace them, maintaining the style of play.

In the 1969-70 and 1970-71 seasons, Gladbach, with a great Herbert Laumen (the team's top goalscorer in both seasons), became champion of the Bundesliga, leaving Gerd Muller's Bayern Munich in second place on both occasions, the team that would rival Mönchengladbach throughout the decade. The Bavarian team would win the following two seasons of the Bundesliga although in 1972-73, Weisweiler's team won the DFB Pokal and reached the final of the UEFA Cup, which they would finally lose against Shankly's Liverpool 3-2 in the aggregate.

A year later, Bayern Munich would win the Bundesliga again, leaving Gladbach in second place, despite having scored 93 goals in 34 games, although the Bavarian team went a little further and scored 95. That second place gave it a new qualification for the UEFA Cup. In 1974-75, Weisweiler would lead the team to its third Bundesliga although the real milestone was in Europe as they would win the UEFA Cup against Twente 5-1. This was the club's first major international trophy and sealed a historic double for Mönchengladbach. Weisweiler felt he had completed his job with Gladbach and accepted an offer from FC Barcelona to replace Rinus Michels as manager of the Catalan club.

Lattek

Udo Lattek had a brief career as a professional football player before joining the German Football Association at the age of 30 to work as a coach for the West Germany team. After almost 5 years, he got the opportunity to be the manager of Bayern Munich, thanks to the recommendation of Beckenabauer, Maier and Muller who had already worked with him on the national team. In any case, his hiring was not without controversy since he had no experience at the club level.

From his arrival at Bayern until he left the Bavarian institution, Lattek won 3 Bundesliga titles, a DFB Pokal and a European Cup. That very good 1974-75 Gladbach season was bad for Bayern, at least according to the club president and this led to Lattek's dismissal. Surprisingly, Lattek would be Weisweiler's replacement at Gladbach, the Bavarian team's rival for the last five years.

The peak years

The change of manager did not affect the performance of Mönchengladbach, which in the 1975-76 season repeated the Bundesliga title, something they would achieve again the following season. In the 1976-77 season, the club would reach what is probably the highest point in Gladbach's history, the final of the European Cup. As if it were a cruel joke, fate wanted the rival to be Liverpool again, this time led by Bob Paisley. Once again, the result would favor the English, this time 3-1.

In 1979, the Mönchengladbach club would close its golden decade with a new achievement, in this case, in the form of an international trophy, the UEFA Cup. The rival was Red Star Belgrade, the Yugoslav team that had already eliminated a German club in the semi-finals, Hertha Berlin and a couple of English teams like West Brom and Arsenal. However, despite the 1-1 draw in the first leg in Belgrade, Simonsen's solitary penalty goal in the second leg gave the trophy to those led by Lattek, who, a few weeks later, would leave Gladbach to try his luck in another Borussia, Dortmund.