Nigerian duo Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella will begin their quest for a second Bundesliga title on Friday when Bayer Leverkusen travel to Borussia Monchengladbach.
The German champions went unbeaten last season en route to clinching their first-ever league title and have already served notice of not slowing down this term after opening the 2024/25 campaign with victory in the German Super Cup.
For a side that won the title with an 18-point gap, Leverkusen failed to win in just six matches and one of the matches in which they dropped points came against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Below, we preview the upcoming match and also provide a prediction as to how the scoreline may ultimately pan out.
Quick stats
- Bayer Leverkusen remain unbeaten in their last 35 Bundesliga matches – a run that stretches back to the final day of the 2022/23 season.
- Borussia Monchengladbach were the only Bundesliga team to have stopped Leverkusen from scoring last season.
- Leverkusen scored 21 goals from set pieces last season, while Monchengladbach scored 10 from corners alone.
- Victor Boniface was Leverkusen’s top scorer last season with 14 goals while no Monchengladbach player scored more than Robin Hack’s 10 league goals.
- Leverkusen are unbeaten in their last five Bundesliga matches against Monchengladbach, winning three times and drawing the other two.
Match preview
Last season was near flawless for Leverkusen, who romped to their first-ever Bundesliga title in style. Xavi Alonso’s side tore through every opponent and were by far the most entertaining team in the German top flight.
Die Werkself ended the campaign with the double, having also added the DFB Pokal after beating FC Kaiserslautern in the final. The club came very close to completing the treble before they were stopped in their tracks by an Ademola Lookman-inspired Atalanta in the final of the Europa League.
That notwithstanding, Leverkusen started the 2024/25 campaign on a high after winning the German Super Cup and now they will be aiming to open the league season with another victory when they take on Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday.
Alonso counted on Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella a lot last season, with the Spaniard’s knack for rotation keeping his players fresh during the title run-in. While Boniface struggled for game time in the latter stages of the season after returning from a three-month injury layoff, he looks primed to once again be the team’s starting striker after getting the nod in last week’s Super Cup victory over Stuttgart.
For Tella, he made a slow start to the last campaign but worked his way into Alonso’s plans and ended up making 39 appearances in all competitions. Having also started against Stuttgart, it’s possible that Alonso would trust the Nigeria international again for Friday’s league opener.
Leverkusen are set to go into the game against Monchengladbach as favourites but the hosts won’t be pushovers. While Monchengladbach struggled last season and only survived relegation by a point difference, they gave Leverkusen a run for their money the last time the two teams met.
Gerardo Seoane Castro’s side were the last team in the Bundesliga to prevent Leverkusen from scoring after holding them to a goalless draw in January. Monchengladbach were also impressive in pre-season, where they won all seven of their matches and scored 17 goals.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs Bayer Leverkusen H2H
Last 5 matches
- January 27, 2024 – Bayer Leverkusen 0-0 Borussia Monchengladbach
- August 26, 2023 – Borussia Monchengladbach 0-3 Bayer Leverkusen
- May 21, 2023 – Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Borussia Monchengladbach
- January 22, 2023 – Borussia Monchengladbach 2-3 Bayer Leverkusen
- January 15, 2033 – Borussia Monchengladbach 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Borussia Monchengladbach vs Bayer Leverkusen prediction
It should be a close game but given Leverkusen’s dominance in this fixture in the last three years, they should be able to record another win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
Both teams are likely to score, though, especially as it’s the first game of the season and the two sets of managers will be aiming to start the campaign on a good note. A 2-1 victory for Alonso’s side is possible.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs Bayer Leverkusen: Possible lineups
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Omlin; Scally, Itakura, Elvedi, Netz; Reitz, Weigl; Honorat, Stoger, Hack; Kleindienst
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Garcia, Tella; Wirtz, Adli; Boniface
