Bottom vs second-bottom: Gladbach face unwanted record against Hoffenheim
Pointless after five games, Borussia Moenchengladbach host Hoffenheim at 17:30 CET. Another defeat would equal the worst start in Bundesliga history.
Archive image · Photo: Käthe u. Bernd Limburg, www.limburg-bernd.de / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized)
Last-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach, still without a point after five defeats, host second-from-bottom Hoffenheim (3 points) in Sunday's relegation clash at Borussia-Park (17:30 CET). Gladbach have conceded a league-high 18 goals and lost both home games 4-3, to Elversberg and Mainz.
It is coach Alexander Blessin's first home game. A sixth straight defeat to open the season would put Gladbach level with Bochum (2022/23), Mainz (2020/21) and Duesseldorf (1991/92); no Bundesliga side has ever lost its first seven games. "We know Hoffenheim's strengths in transition. They like to press high, and they have very fast players," Blessin said.
Hoffenheim, fifth last season, have lost four competitive games in a row, most recently 3-2 to Besiktas in the Europa League on Thursday. Coach Christian Ilzer kept his line-up open: "It's still hard to say at such short notice. A few players are still carrying knocks, we are working on it intensively." Bernardo is suspended.
Sources
- gladbachlive.de, Gladbach im Krisen-Modus: So will Blessin gegen Hoffenheim die Wende erzwingen, 17.10.2026
- neunzigplus.de, Der Letzte gegen den Vorletzten, 17.10.2026
- LigaInsider, Vor Gladbach: Wunden lecken bei der TSG Hoffenheim, 16.10.2026
- gladbachlive.de, Gladbach droht im zweiten Blessin-Spiel schon der Negativ-Rekord, 15.10.2026