Young Luxembourg international may start in goal for Borussia Mönchengladbach this weekend | OneFootball

Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach Gerardo Seoane has left it open who will stand in goal against Heidenheim in this weekend’s Bundesliga encounter. Following news of Moritz Nicolas’ season-ending surgery, the foals found themselves being forced to thrust number 3 Tobias Sippel onto the pitch last week when Jonas Omlin was sent off on straight red.

The performance of the 36-year-old Sippel left much to be desired and Seoane does have other options. Sippel himself even acknowledged this in his post-match interview. Of the three BMG academy keepers who Sippel mentioned – Maximilian Brüll, Maximilian Neutgens and Thiago Pereira Cardoso – the third actor may be in line for a start.

Tiago Pereira Cardoso (18) regular features for the Gladbach U19s. He made three appearances for BMG in the fourth-tier Regionalliga West last year and has not yet been tapped by Seoane in the matchday squad. The teenager, of Portuguese descent, has been capped three times at senior level for his native Luxembourg.

Luckily for Seoane, the DFB determined this week that the nature of Omlin’s red card wasn’t malicious enough to merit more than a one-match suspension. Against struggling Heidenheim this weekend, it may prove worth it to roll the dice with a potential future prospect. Both Seoane and BMG sporting director Roland Virkus – in a Kicker interview – conveyed this.

“Sippel has a lot more experience and has seen and played in these kind of matches many times,” Seoane said, “[but] Tiago is a player with a lot of potential for the future. We are leaning in one direction. Everyone will see on Saturday.“

“It’s a gamble to through a youngster in goal, but he [Tiago] has a lot of quality,” Virkus added. “It raises a question, but our goalkeeping coaches certainly have the right instinct in this case.“

GGFN | Peter Weis