Official | Alexander Blessin returns to the Bundesliga as new Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach | OneFootball

Borussia Mönchengladbach have officially appointed Alexander Blessin as their new head coach. The 53-year-old returns to the Bundesliga only four months after being relegated with FC St. Pauli. Gladbach confirmed on Tuesday that Blessin has signed a contract through 2028. He will be formally presented alongside sporting director Rouven Schröder on Wednesday afternoon.

Blessin succeeds Eugen Polanski, whom Gladbach dismissed following the 5-0 defeat away at Freiburg on Matchday 3. Jan-Moritz Lichte subsequently assumed control on an interim basis and left the incoming permanent trainer plenty to ponder despite Saturday’s 3-4 home defeat to Mainz.

Gladbach enter the international break bottom of the Bundesliga table with a 6:16 goal difference. Only Union Berlin have conceded more goals, while the 16 conceded by Borussia equal the previous Bundesliga record through four matchdays. Blessin’s first assignment will carry additional significance. His Gladbach debut comes away against Rhine rivals 1. FC Cologne on October 11.

Blessin returns after St. Pauli relegation

Blessin’s second Bundesliga appointment arrives after two sharply contrasting seasons with St. Pauli. The Stuttgart native succeeded Fabian Hürzeler following the Hamburg club’s promotion in 2024 and immediately constructed one of Germany’s most difficult teams to break down. St. Pauli conceded only 41 league goals during Blessin’s first season — the second-best defensive record in the Bundesliga behind Bayern Munich — and secured survival.

His work generated outside interest as well. Get German Football News reported in April 2025 that both Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg were monitoring Blessin as he steered St. Pauli toward safety. The following campaign initially appeared capable of producing further progress. A September 2025 GGFN tactical check examined an unbeaten St. Pauli side sitting near the top of the table after collecting seven points from its opening three fixtures.

What followed proved substantially more difficult.

A nine-match losing streak dragged St. Pauli directly into another relegation fight. Blessin nevertheless survived repeated pressure and, by late February and early March, seemed to have found another route out. Wins over Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim together with a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt produced seven points from three matches.

When GGFN conducted its extensive St. Pauli “Relegation Check” on March 14, the situation remained precarious following a 2-0 loss in Gladbach. There were nevertheless legitimate reasons for optimism. Blessin had repeatedly found ways of extracting results from a limited squad, while performances such as the 2-1 victory over Stuttgart suggested that the team still possessed enough energy and resilience to survive.

The subsequent collapse proved decisive.

St. Pauli surrendered a lead and lost 2-1 to Freiburg in their next league fixture, after which Blessin apologized for insulting referee Florian Badstübner during an emotional post-match interview. A 1-1 draw away at Union Berlin followed before Bayern demolished the Kiezkicker 5-0 at the Millerntor. Another 1-1 draw, this time against Cologne, supplied only temporary relief.

The decisive blow came against bottom side Heidenheim. St. Pauli lost 2-0 in a fixture that represented one of their clearest remaining opportunities to escape the relegation places. By that point, GGFN noted that Blessin’s team had collected only two points from five matches since the relegation-check feature. Matters never improved.

St. Pauli subsequently lost 2-1 to Mainz and by the same scoreline at RB Leipzig. That left their Bundesliga status dependent on a final-day home showdown with Wolfsburg. Blessin’s team lost 3-1 at the Millerntor and finished bottom of the Bundesliga. From the publication of GGFN‘s March relegation check through the end of the season, St. Pauli collected only two points from their final eight matches and failed to record another victory.

The club opted to begin again without Blessin following relegation.

Gladbach turn to experience amid defensive crisis

Blessin nevertheless arrives in Gladbach with considerably more on his résumé than his final months in Hamburg. He spent eight years developing as a coach in RB Leipzig’s academy before taking his first senior position with KV Oostende. Blessin subsequently coached Genoa and Union Saint-Gilloise, winning the Belgian Cup and twice earning Belgium’s Coach of the Year honor during his spells in the country.

Gladbach will hope that the defensive organization evident during Blessin’s first St. Pauli campaign can be recreated quickly. The coaching position itself has hardly enjoyed stability in recent years. Blessin becomes Gladbach’s fifth permanent head coach since Marco Rose departed for Borussia Dortmund in 2021. Adi Hütter and Daniel Farke lasted one season apiece, while Gerardo Seoane remained in charge from June 2023 until September 2025. Polanski’s tenure ended after just over a year.

Blessin now receives the international break to begin work on a team still searching for its first point of the season — before his tenure begins in earnest with one of the most emotionally charged fixtures on the calendar.

GGFN | Peter Weis