Rhine rivals Bayer Leverkusen 04 and Borussia Mönchengladbach will meet for the 86th time in their German Bundesliga history in the reverse fixture of matchday 1 of the 2024/25 German Bundesliga season.
Die Werkself have won this tie 35 times and have lost 22 times, while both have drawn 28 times. It is this disparity in the head-to-head that actually makes this a Rhine Derby when teams like 1. FC Köln and Fortuna Düsseldorf exist.
Here is a little history for you:
The Rhine Derby was first contested in 1950 between Köln and Borussia Mönchengladbach for footballing reasons after the more political version of the derby between Düsseldorf and Köln was held. Soon, both Köln and Mönchengladbach became the chief Rhine Derby fixture, until Bayer, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies situated in Leverkusen, decided to get into football.
That decision changed the landscape of the Rhine Derbies because the 2023/24 winners are now the team to beat in North-West Germany. They may still be playing catch-up in terms of trophies—they only won their first Bundesliga last season—but they have finished as top-flight runners up the most among all teams in Germany’s football pyramid. This is apart from the fact that Leverkusen has beaten the other three Rhine Derby teams more times than they have been beaten.
Matchday 1 almost ended in a draw for The Goals, but Florian Wirtz’s last-gasp winner earned the reigning Bundesliga champions a dramatic 3-2 victory to start their title defence.
With just over 10 minutes gone in the match, Leverkusen fullback Jeremie Frimpong’s cross was deflected right into the path of Granit Xhaka, who lashed a stunning first-time strike into the top corner from all of 30 yards out. That was the first goal of the 2024/25 season and it was special—a goal of the season contender.
Leverkusen continued to silence the fans at BORUSSIA-PARK with their passing, chance creation and attacks, even hitting the post twice through AFCON duo Victor Boniface and Edmond Tapsoba. However, Gladbach did not take it lying down, with summer signings Kevin Stöger and Tim Kleindienst leading the charge and causing the Leverkusen backline serious problems.
As if to laugh in the face of all their efforts, the football deities granted the visitors another goal as last season's MVP Florian Wirtz pounced on a rebound from a saved Álex Grimaldo shot to fire inside the near post.
The second half took a while to get underway because the pitch was foggy due to smoke from pyrotechnics, but the hosts opened the night. Stöger’s whipped free-kick was headed back in by Ko Itakura, and Nico Elvedi was there to nudge past Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky at the second attempt.
Kleindienst would get their second later in the game and both teams would fight to get an equaliser. This played into Leverkusen's hands, as they turned up the heat as they are known to do in the dying embers of a match.
Channelling that same energy, they won a penalty in the 100th minute of the game and Wirtz buried it from a rebound after his spot kick was initially saved.
While it was a bitter way for Gerardo Seoane’s men to start the campaign, the former Leverkusen manager will be pleased with the way his side recovered from a two-goal deficit. However, he will hope not to give up any goals or chances for a late comeback when he takes his current team to his old stomping grounds on matchday 18.
With an exciting Rhine Derby match on the cards, read on for the information you need to purchase tickets to the game as well as team news, predictions on starting XIs and the final scoreline.
Match tickets
The BayArena is the venue of this Rhine Derby. This stadium, which serves as home to Die Werkself, is expected to come alive for this match because of the battle for supremacy between all four clubs in the North-Rhine Westphalia region. Tickets are usually sold out every derby day as fans troop to stadiums to support their own teams, which means that the ticket ballots on derby days are hotly contested.
Fans interested in a seat at the game will have to visit either club’s website for their Bayer Leverkusen 04 vs Borussia Mönchengladbach tickets for this game, which is scheduled as one of the matchday 18 clashes for the 2024/25 German Bundesliga football season. Early indication is key to securing a seat at the BayArena on that day.
Fans can also visit ticket resale sites to get tickets to the game directly from fans who would like to exchange their Bayer Leverkusen 04 tickets or their Borussia Mönchengladbach tickets for cash or other matchday tickets. This option helps fans beat the waitlists that using either club’s official platforms for ticket purchases will force them to join. It also helps the non-registered fans avoid the bottlenecks of being put on a registration waitlist, which they will have to get out of before they apply for tickets.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 PM, UK time.
Team news
The hosts could be without Amine Adli and Victor Boniface for the match as both players continue their journey to match fitness for the rest of the season following their injuries in October and November respectively. Reports indicate that they are training but their return to matchday action against The Foals is uncertain. The Bayer-owned club is in the market for new players, but it is unlikely that Alonso will hand out any debuts on the day.
Gerry Seoane is unlikely to hand out any debuts either, but he is unlikely to go to Leverkusen with Luca Netz, Florian Neuhaus, and Grant-Leon Ranos. These three are all recovering from varying injuries after participating in The Foals’ season up until late 2024 when they were forced to sit on the sidelines. They are also in training, with reports claiming that Netz could make an earlier return than the others which would be a big boost for Swiss manager Seoane—who is slowly losing the fans—as Mönchengladbach prepare to face Leverkusen, where he was sacked for Alonso after similar performances in the dugout.
Line-ups
Here is how we expect the teams to line up for this Boxing Day curtain raiser.
Bayer Leverkusen 04: Hradecky; Hincapie, Tah, Tapsoba, Arthur; Grimaldo, Garcia, Andrich, Xhaka, Frimpong; Schick.
Borussia Mönchengladbach: Nicolas; Ullrich, Itakura, Friedrich, Scally; Weigl, Reitz; Hack, Plea, Honorat; Kleindienst.
Prediction
Leverkusen are not at their 2023/24 best—they have already lost in Germany and also in Europe—and their win to draw rate is almost equal, which gives Mönchengladbach a 50 percent chance of earning a positive result at the BayArena. For this reason, we expect the match to be as close as their first meeting this season, with the match coming down to moments. Here, Leverkusen have the upper hand, unless Lady Luck chooses to go against them.
Bayer Leverkusen 04 3 - 2 Borussia Mönchengladbach.
