Rouven Schröder has made the scale of the Borussia Mönchengladbach crisis plain before Friday's match at VfB Stuttgart. Gladbach must report their tenth absence, and Schröder said the damage goes beyond the team sheet: "If players are not in the dressing room, a group cannot fully form as a team either." VfB Stuttgart vs Borussia Mönchengladbach now looks like a test of how much strain one squad can take.
Schröder's dressing-room warning
Schröder told SPORT1, in comments translated from German, that the absences are more than a selection problem. "Basically, of course, that does not help in the current situation," he said. He added: "Our aim must be for these players to come back soon and for us to be able to create even more unity."
The most striking absence is Kevin Diks, who had played every minute this season so far before being ruled out at short notice. He has started all six Bundesliga matches and has played all 540 available league minutes, so Gladbach lose an ever-present defender at a bad moment. Tim Kleindienst has been wearing the captain's armband in Diks's absence.
The task at Stuttgart
The league position makes the trip more awkward still. Gladbach are bottom of the Bundesliga with 0 points from 6 matches, and seven Bundesliga defeats at the start of a season have never happened before for the club. That is the threat hanging over them, rather than a confirmed outcome.
Stuttgart's domestic start has not been smooth either. They are 13th with 6 points, while another source places them just above the relegation zone. Their European form has been better, with 7 points from 3 Champions League matches.
Gladbach have a squad problem and a form problem at the same time, and the first one is now feeding the second. The clearest thing to watch at VfB Stuttgart vs Borussia Mönchengladbach is whether Schröder's injured players can be replaced without the gap widening any further.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
