Gladbach's 15:0-test match victory over Kreislklassen-club FC Rottach-Egern was ultimately overshadowed by a severe injury to Jens Castrop (23), who spent several minutes being treated by four paramedics and a doctor on the pitch and collapsed again with great pain when leaving the field. Castrop was then taken to the hospital by a Norarztwagen. Castrop lay on the pitch after an hour without any interference from an opponent. The paramedics tried to stabilize his shoulder, but the pain was too great: Only when a portable stretcher arrived could the central midfielder finally leave the field and the game was resumed after about ten minutes of interruption. Before that, the Borussians had taken their time to get going Wael Mohya, who had expressed his national team decision between Morocco and Germany in BILD before the game (“It's still all open, I want to focus on the preparation and a good start with Gladbach right now“) had already scored the 1:0 in the 4th minute. Then only one more goal fell until the 33rd minute, Isac Lidberg headed in from close range. Only then did it go on a roll, the VfL finally stopped its pomaded antics and played more purposefully. Until the break, Iaia Manco Danfa scored a double (33./35.), Mohya and Kevin Stöger followed (37./39), and then Japan's new signing Zento Uno (43) celebrated his debut goal for the VfL. Danfa had already received extra praise from the coach before the kick-off. Eugen Polanski (40): „Iaia is doing it right, he is like the other young players not just. In the break, the coach completely changed the lineup - Tyler Meiser, who was playing despite a broken nose in the center of defense, left the field. Meiser to BILD: „The mask hinders the view a bit and is naturally very hot at the temperatures, but that fits - I'm doing fine.“ In the second half, the pace picked up significantly. Alone in the first seven minutes, the VfL increased from 7:0 to 11:0, until the end, the opponent hardly got past the midfield. The scorers: Shuto Machino (48,/73.) Castrop before his injury(49.), Tim Kleindienst (50./84.), Florian Neuhaus (53.) and Franck Honorat (77.). The VfL fans celebrated most of all when the now-marketing-active cult player Patrik Herrmann was allowed on the field for the last 20 minutes. The joy would have been much greater if the Castrop shock hadn't still been stuck in everyone's bones. Gladbach currently stands 14th in the Bundesliga with 30 points from 29 games (7 wins, 9 draws, 13 losses). The title contender is 46 points behind the leaders Bayern Munich. The Borussians face FSV Mainz 05 away on February 13, 2027.