Alexander Blessin Named Borussia Mönchengladbach Coach

Borussia Mönchengladbach have appointed Alexander Blessin as head coach, signing the 53-year-old on a contract to 2028. The move follows the sacking of Eugen Polanski on 13 September, after four defeats from four league games left the club bottom of the Bundesliga without a point.

That result left Gladbach still winless and last in the table heading into Blessin's arrival.

Blessin joins straight from St. Pauli, where he spent two seasons. He kept the Hamburg side up in his first year in the German top flight after replacing Fabian Hürzeler, who left for Brighton having just won promotion with the club. St. Pauli went back down in Blessin's second season, and he was dismissed last June.

Before that spell, Blessin's only previous work in German football was eight years in Red Bull Leipzig's youth setup, after Ralf Rangnick brought him in. His head-coaching career abroad took him to KV Oostende in Belgium from 2020 to 2022, then to Genoa in Italy, before a return to Belgium with Union Saint-Gilloise from 2023 to 2024, where he won the Belgian Cup.

Gladbach's collapse has been steep for a club with their history in the competition.