Daniel Farke's frustration after his first defeat in the 14th game as coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach was enormous. Constantly shaking his head and looking down, Farke thoughtfully trudged off the field after the unfortunate 1-0 (0-0) against FSV Mainz 05 on Sunday evening.

"Today was one of those days when everything went against us," he complained later. The first defeat as a Borussia coach in a competitive or friendly game since he took office in the summer hurt. "I said to the boys: I don't want to get used to defeats," said the 45-year-old and promised: "One thing is certain: we will definitely get up again."

Farke: "It felt like everything was ready"

After the strong start to the season under him and the successful return to the ball possession style of the successful Lucien Favre era, Borussia would have liked to have had more tailwind for the difficult tasks ahead at league leaders SC Freiburg and against cup winners RB Leipzig. In recent days, the last-minute signings of Toulouse's Nathan Ngoumou and Benfica's Julian Weigl have given Farke and those around him even more confidence. The euphoria on the Lower Rhine had long been sparked. "It felt like everything was ready," said Farke himself.

And then that. In the first half, Marcus Thuram alone could have shot Mainz out of the stadium, but missed seven of Gladbach's eight chances to score. "Even the best strikers in the world sometimes miss clear chances to score. We missed a few too many today," complained the Borussia coach. To make matters worse, the newcomer Ko Itakura, who had been so strong up to now, received a red card for an emergency brake. Aarón (55th minute) shot the free kick due for Yann Sommer in a wonderful and untenable way. "He only hits him once in three years," said Farke. "That suits the day," said national player Jonas Hofmann.

Because he was completely forgotten due to two injuries. In Nico Elvedi and Alassane Plea, two top performers had to be replaced injured. In Freiburg, three regulars are now in danger of dropping out if you include Itakura's due suspension. "These are key players for us," said Farke too, because now, for undesirable reasons, he is quickly dependent on Weigl and Ngoumou. "It was important that we got two more players, said veteran Christoph Kramer. Both came into the game late on Sunday, but should be challenged immediately next Sunday.