Five German championships and two DFB Pokals are on display in the "Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V." museum, though it's unlikely that more will be added – at least in the Bundesliga – anytime soon. Although the team have secured five top-five finishes since 2011/12, recent history has seen Gladbach residing largely in the mid-to-lower reaches of the league table.

This is also currently the case in a season in which coach Gerardo Seoane had to resign in mid-September after 78 games due to poor results, and the tenure of former sports director Roland Virkus ended shortly after. Both positions have now been filled. On the touchline, in an interim capacity for now, is former Gladbach player, Eugen Polanski, while Rouven Schröder was announced as the new sporting director on Tuesday.

Schröder is now expected to ensure some long-term stability for the team, with new signings in the upcoming winter transfer window probable. This summer Kiel striker, Shuto Machino, as well as the two central creative players Jens Castrop and Giovanni Reyna, were unveiled at Borussia-Park. All of them are intended to support striker Haris Tabakovic, on loan from TSG Hoffenheim, who is the Foals' top scorer so far with two goals.

Union and Gladbach have played thirteen times so far. Including the legendary DFB Pokal semi-final win in 2001, Union have won seven, only losing once at home to the team from the Lower Rhine. Mönchengladbach, have won three, with three games ending in a draw.

Gladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas, who, alongside defense chief Nico Elvedi, is the only Gladbach player to have played every minute this season, served as the Union's number two in the 2019/20 season. He made his debut in the German top flight against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on the penultimate matchday. 

Marvin Friedrich, who made 24 appearances for the Foals last season, played 141 matches times for Union between the winter transfer windows of 2018 and 2022.

Union's coaching team will have to cope without Josip Juranović, Livan Burcu, Robert Skov, and Andrik Markgraf for the match.

“Anyone who has seen Gladbach's last games knows that they were often close," said Union's head coach, Steffen baumgart, during his press conference of Wednesday afternoon. "The match against Frankfurt was an exception, but we also had such a game. Borussia are generally an opponent that play similarly to us and have their strengths from set pieces. Eugen Polanski certainly has a clear plan, which we can only counteract by finding our own solutions. This also has to do with having more possession of the ball under certain circumstances.” 

“Union, a Friday night, floodlights – one doesn't need to say more. It can certainly get intense. We need to know what’s coming: a lot of intensity, power, and pace. We’re going there to implement the steps we’ve taken in the last games once again and to win the match in the end,” is what  Polanski had to say on the game.

The Stadion An der Alten Försterei opens as usual two hours before kick off. The match is sold out in both the home and away sections.