The DFB: Gladbach and the German Football Association have not exactly been in a love affair. That has been true at least since 1971, when the post-break match against Bremen was awarded 0:2. Nor did it stop there: fans regarded the city’s exclusion as a World Cup host in 1974 — while Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund were selected and all their local Bundesliga clubs received modern, high-capacity stadiums — as a major reason why Gladbach could no longer keep up financially with Germany’s true giants. When the city was also passed over for 2006 and not considered for Euro 2024, enough was enough.\n\nNational-team matches at Borussia-Park have carried a special edge ever since.