Too soon to rule Bensebaini’s Gladbach out of Bundesliga title race?

After 65 days without action in the Bundesliga, football returned in Germany last weekend and Borussia Monchengladbach came back to action in style by recording a statement win at Eintracht Frankfurt. 

Incidentally, Gladbach’s 2-1 success over Cologne was the last game to be held in the German top flight before the forced coronavirus hiatus, and Die Fohlen picked up where they left off with a 3-1 triumph at Frankfurt.

Ramy Bensebaini was central to Marco Rose’s side’s commanding success as they inflicted a fourth successive defeat on the Eagles, as the defender contributed a seventh-minute assist and a second-half penalty to make sure of the points.

The left-back’s ingenuity to set-up Marcus Thuram’s goal doubled the away side’s advantage (they’d opened the scoring just 35 seconds after kick-off) and was followed by a perfectly dispatched spot-kick with 17 minutes to play to nip hopes of a potential grandstand finish for the home side in the bud. 

Given Adi Hutter’s troops had turned the screw somewhat after an underwhelming first-half start saw them fall two goals down, and were on the front foot after half-time, dominating possession and carrying a greater threat in the final third, the Algeria full-back’s contribution was timely. 

The African champion’s now up to five goals and two assists in his first season in the Bundesliga, which puts him joint-fifth top scorer for Rose’s side, an impressive output considering goalscoring isn’t his primary responsibility. 

Bensebaini’s combined return is also more commendable given he’s featured in just 12 of Gladbach’s 26 league games, or for better context, 38 percent of total action. The defender has started 10 of those matches with the long-serving Oscar Wendt primarily Rose’s preferred option in that left berth. 

Statistically, the Swede trails the North African for goal contributions – two goals and as many assists in 18 matches – but Rose has opted for Wendt more often despite his weaker attacking contribution.

🎙 #Rose:

“Whether @bensebainiRams or @OWendt_17 start is still undecided. We’re happy to have two great players on the same position. Ramy is at the end of Ramadan, and he takes that very seriously. We’ll see whether he plays on Saturday.”#BMGB04 #GladToBeBach pic.twitter.com/EQKsG96PnE

— Gladbach (@borussia_en) May 21, 2020

39 percent of Die Fohlen’s attacks against Frankfurt came down Bensebaini’s flank, while the opposite flank contributed 29 percent, with 32 percent going through the middle.

Contrast this to Wendt’s last start against Cologne where it was 33 percent, with the right flank accounting for 43 percent of the home side’s final third impetus. 

For a side that doesn’t score many (they’ve scored the fewest goals in the top four), one would imagine Rose will give more responsibility to the Afcon 2019 winner in the final weeks of the season given Gladbach’s new position as primary outsiders to challenge Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table. 

Last week’s success saw them leapfrog wobbling RasenBallsport Leipzig into third on 52 points, two behind Dortmund and six below a Bayern side seeking an eight Bundesliga title in a row. 

While six points is a lot of ground to make up if Die Bayern are the side in the driver’s seat, next week Tuesday’s Der Klassiker between the leading pair at the Westfalenstadion could tighten things at the top, especially if third-placed Monchengladbach win their next two games. 

Hans-Dieter Flick’s troops still have to play five of the current top seven sides in the final eight gameweeks, while Lucien Favre’s team play three of those teams before the close of the campaign. 

Rose’s team, like Dortmund, face three of the leading seven clubs, including a trip to the Allianz Arena in round 31, which could certainly be interesting depending on how results shape up the table before then. 

First, Gladbach have to navigate a potentially tough encounter with fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday afternoon.

The tightness of the Bundesliga standings means Bayer’s 4-1 thumping of Werder Bremen on Monday night gives them an outside chance in the race, although an eight-point swing seems far-fetched for Peter Bosz’s men despite being mathematically possible. 

An interesting statistic after the league’s return saw only one home victory (Dortmund’s 4-0 win over Schalke), with five sides triumphing on the road, with many observers crediting this shift to the lack of home support across the nine fixtures.

The sample size is too brief to draw conclusions, but there will be a keen eye on this weekend’s fixtures, with Gladbach’s encounter with Kai Havertz’s Leverkusen at Borrusia-Park on Saturday the pick of the fixtures.

Interestingly, both sides had the highest Expected Goals in gameweek 26 – 2.79 and 2.88 respectively – which showed how swiftly they came out of the blocks.

For context, Dortmund’s xG of 1.45 in the Revierderby suggests a flawed final score while Bayern’s 1.39 in a 2-0 success at Union Berlin was slightly more reflective of the result. 

However, the side from Western Germany have scored 20 fewer than BVB and 23 lesser than FC Hollywood, while they trail RB Leipzig by 10.

It’s for this reason Bensebaini could be important for Rose’s men in the final stretch of the campaign as he offers some threat on his forward forays. 

His goal contribution of seven from 12 games looks more encouraging when compared with arguably the best full-back in the division Achraf Hakimi, given the Moroccan’s haul of three goals and 10 assists have come in 26 matches, more than double the Algerian’s.

Indeed, the ex-Rennes full-back’s underlying numbers are commendable and he may be a useful weapon in the Bundesliga title race, an assertion backed by three-goal involvements in his last four games. 

Gladbach put themselves in a good position after gameweek 26, and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare on home turf as fans continue to stay away from stadiums across the country.

Curiously, despite the ghost games, the keenness to see how the title race develops provides some excitement amid a pandemic-hit season, and Bensebaini could play a crucial part in the outsiders mounting a late title charge.