Borussia Monchengladbach defeated Union Berlin by a margin of 4-1 on Matchday 29 of the Bundesliga on Sunday. They moved into third place in the league table, albeit provisionally as RB Leipzig play their respective game later on Monday night.
Apart from the fact that their latest victory keeps Marco Rose’s men well within the race for Champions League qualification next season, Sunday’s match was all the more significant because it marked the debut of Mamadou Doucoure, who had joined the Foals in 2016, but a succession of muscle injuries delayed his debut for more than four years!
There’s a very interesting tale behind Doucoure’s time in the Bundesliga, with the youngster struggling from various niggling injuries. But he was finally able to make his first-team bow recently over the weekend.
Who is Mamadou Doucoure?
Born in Dakar, Senegal on 21 May 1998, Mamadou Doucoure began his footballing career with Paris FC, a team that competes in the Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. After five seasons, he joined the youth academy of Paris Saint-Germain in 2011.
Doucoure would continue to rise through the ranks at the Parc des Princes, and soon the youngster was promoted to PSG’s ‘B’ team in 2015, for whom he made just three appearances.
This is when Borussia Monchengladbach decided to rope in the Frenchman, and since moving to Germany in 2016, Doucoure only managed to rack up 12 appearances for Monchengladbach’s reserve team because of multiple injuries.
The injury crisis
Just as Mamadou Doucoure joined Gladbach, he suffered a muscle tear in June 2016. He recovered from that setback only for the injury to recur again in January 2017.
In the next three years, the 22-year-old suffered multiple muscle tears and strains, which continued to pull him back. Despite his struggles, the club continued to show faith in the youngster and helped him in his rehabilitation.
Doucoure, who has represented France at youth levels, finally made his first-team debut for Borussia Monchengladbach on 31 May, in a routine home win against Union Berlin, coming on as a substitute for Florian Neuhaus in the 90th minute.
A heartwarming gesture by Borussia Monchengladbach players
After the game against Union Berlin ended on Sunday, all the Borussia Monchengladbach players applauded Doucoure before celebrating the win in front of a plethora of fan cut-outs that have been installed on the seats at Borussia Park since people aren’t allowed inside the stadium as of yet.
And that’s not all, Marcus Thuram took the celebrations up a notch, by putting Doucoure’s shirt on the corner flag, which was a heartwarming gesture truly.
We’re hoping to see more of this young man as the Bundesliga season progresses.
All stats courtesy: Transfermarkt.co.in