It’s been a windy few days in the Lower Rhine region. Firstly, Borussia Monchengladbach’s game against 1. FC Koln had to be cancelled last week thanks to Storm Sabine. Then on Saturday, Storm Denis blew away Fortuna Dusseldorf at the Merkur-Spiel Arena, clocking in at a top speed of 35 km/h. It’s useful when you can conjure up your very own hurricane. This Denis, last name Zakaria, happens to be in the pay of Borussia. He wears the No 8 shirt but often plays three positions in one.



Gladbach captain Lars Stindl grabbed the majority of the headlines, shooting down Uwe Rosler’s resurgent relegation battlers with a second-half brace. French prodigy Marcus Thuram had another excellent game in the 4-1 win, including a reverse pass so well disguised that Dusseldorf’s defence were still looking for it 48 hours later. The secret star of the show, however, was once more the man in the middle, a player who didn’t so much dominate the space between the...