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Bayern Munich and Mönchengladbach: “A German Team”, Explained

By Kelly Krigger

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 19: The VfL Borussia Moenchengladbach team celebrate their victory following the UEFA Champions League group C match between Celtic FC and VfL Borussia Moenchengladbach at Celtic Park on October 19, 2016 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 19: The VfL Borussia Moenchengladbach team celebrate their victory following the UEFA Champions League group C match between Celtic FC and VfL Borussia Moenchengladbach at Celtic Park on October 19, 2016 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images) /
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It all started with a sign outside a Glasgow bar and ended with three Bundesliga clubs making a joke.  How did Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach end up making a joke about this?

Borussia Mönchengladbach traveled to Scotland this week to play Celtic FC in what would appear to be a regular Champions League match.  It turns out the events of the match were fairly normal (Mönchengladbach won 2-0), but somewhere in the course of the match, Mönchengladbach changed their Twitter name to “A German Team”.

It all started with the following sign posted outside a Glasgow bar, which the Mönchengladbach Twitter staff found.

This sign in clearly making a joke about the almost unspellable nature of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s name to English speakers.  However, instead of taking this as an insult, they turned it into one of the most beautiful marketing stunts of the season.  They embraced it, and it turned into fantastic entertainment for football fans and marketing/public relations nerds alike.

After changing their Twitter name, Mönchengladbach’s players started using the hashtag #aGermanTeam in the post-match pictures they posted.  Then, other clubs started joining in on the party.

Fellow Bundesliga clubs Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen jumped in on the action shortly after.  Bayern Munich’s English account tweeted the following picture after the name change.

But, it gets better!  Bayer Leverkusen decided to join in on the fun, with the following reply to Bayern Munich’s tweet.  Leverkusen made a play on popular joke: “Back in my day, the walk to school was uphill both ways”.

This was not, however, the end of the joke. Bayern Munich’s twitter is almost exclusively referring to Borussia Mönchengladbach as “A German Team” in preparation for the teams’ match tomorrow.   Bayern Munich tweeted this earlier today, advertising their upcoming game against Mönchengladbach.

A Bavarian Team. A German Team.  They play on Saturday, and hopefully that is not the last we see of this joke!  With arguably the hardest name to spell in European football, it is a wonder a similar joke has not been made before.