Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Tobias Sippel on surprise Bundesliga comeback: “It’s insane!” | OneFootball

Whether it’s the Bundesliga or indeed any other professional footballing division, it’s not every day that you see a third-choice goalkeeper forced into action. Borussia Mönchengladbach Tobias Sippel nevertheless happened to find himself in this position on Saturday afternoon. A season-ending injury for No. 1 Moritz Nicolas and a red card for No. 2 Jonas Omlin meant that the 36-year-old had to strap on his boots.

Matters proceeding rather disastrously for Gerardo Seoane’s side on Saturday afternoon at home against Augsburg. Omlin’s 28th-minute red card left the foals shorthanded for two thirds of the match. FCA attacker Alexis Claude Maurice sunk the Niederrheiner with a hat-trick as the home slide slumped to a defeat.

At his advanced age, Sippel probably never expected to make another top flight appearance again. The former Kaiserslautern man hadn’t set foot on the pitch in nearly two years. Some very poor performances in goal during the 2022/23 Bundesliga campaign had left him something of a running joke in German footballing circles.

The Gladbach goalkeeping situation continues along its crazy course since the departure of long-time mainstay Yann Sommer in January 2023. Sommer’s Swiss compatriot Omlin’s persistent injury problems led to Jan Olschowsky temporarily looking like the keeper of the future. Nicolas then came out of nowhere to displace Olschowsky and then Omlin.

“I never expected to appear again,” Sippel remarked in his post-match interview with Sky Germany. “It’s crazy, now we’ve lost two goalkeepers in the space of a week with Moritz Nicolas and Jonas Omlin. Now let’s hope I don’t get injured too.

“It’s insane what’s happened in recent years here in the goalkeeping position,” Sippel continued. “I was here for over seven years with Yann Sommer and he wasn’t even injured. Now it seems like we go six or seven games without one of them being injured.”

For his part, Seoane made certain not to place the blame for the three goals conceded squarely on Sippel’s shoulders. It still speaks volumes that the Gladbach head coach floated the idea of turning to youth prospects in goal while Omlin serves his (yet undetermined) suspension.

“He has not had many appearances in the last two or three years, even in friendly matches,” Seoane said at the post-match press conference. “Despite his experience, anyone needs time to get back into the rhythm.

“Now is not the time to make a prediction for next Saturday,” Seoane nevertheless continued. “Tobi is our No. 3 and it is logical that he is in his position to play next Saturday. But I’m being cautious. We’ve lost two goalkeepers in eight days.”

“Let’s see how the training week goes,” Sippel added. “With Maximilian Brüll, Maximilian Neutgens and Thiago [Pereira Cardoso] we have three guys who are in the picture.“

GGFN | Peter Weis