Gladbach could become first team to lose first seven Bundesliga games, at Stuttgart

Borussia Mönchengladbach travel to VfB Stuttgart on Friday (20:30 CEST) one defeat away from a record: no club in 63 years of the Bundesliga has lost its first seven games of a season. Gladbach are bottom with no points from six matches and a goal record of 8-20.

Gladbach down to one striker

Coach Alexander Blessin is without nine players, dpa reports. Forwards Tim Kleindienst and Isaac Lidberg, midfielder Franck Honorat and defender Ko Itakura are among them, which leaves Shuto Machino as essentially the only striker available. Nicolas Kühn is back in team training, while Jens Castrop, also training again after a serious shoulder injury, is likely to come too early for Friday, according to the Bundesliga's official site.

"We have to go through the valley of torment. We still have a few steps to take," said Blessin, who took over during the international break with the first four games already lost. "I haven't banned anyone from laughing and making a few jokes. It is very concentrated, very focused."

Small margins, history on their side

Four of Gladbach's six defeats were by a single goal, and the 3-4 losses to Elversberg and Mainz were both decided in stoppage time. Three clubs before them were pointless after six games: Fortuna Düsseldorf (1991/92), Mainz (2020/21) and Bochum (2022/23). All three took points in their seventh, and Mainz and Bochum went on to stay up.

Blessin played for Stuttgart from 1997 to 1999 and has a good record against Sebastian Hoeneß: as St. Pauli coach he won two of their four Bundesliga meetings, including 1-0 in Stuttgart in 2024/25. Off the pitch, Gladbach's fan umbrella group called this week for president Rainer Bonhof to resign.

Stuttgart need a home win too

Stuttgart, fourth last season, are 13th with six points and a goal record of 8-10 after a 1-0 defeat at Hamburger SV last weekend. They play their first Bundesliga home game in more than a month three days after a 1-1 draw with Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, where Jamie Leweling scored his first goal of the season. "It is a very important game," the winger said.

Right-back Josha Vagnoman is out with a thigh strain picked up against Atlético, and Nikolas Nartey (muscle problems), Tiago Tomás, Justin Diehl and Dan-Axel Zagadou are also unavailable. "We go into the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach well prepared and with a lot of power," said coach Hoeneß, whose side will play in front of a sold-out home end.