Bundesliga
Kleindienst gets the better of best man
Everything seems to be going right for Borussia Mönchengladbach striker Tim Kleindienst at the moment - not even his best man Kevin Müller could escape his goalscoring wrath on Saturday afternoon!
Kleindienst's star has seemingly been on a continuous rise in recent years and, on the back of his first two Germany caps, the 29-year-old led the line for Gladbach at home against former club Heidenheim on Saturday afternoon.
Although the Foals fell behind to Léo Scienza's opener, they ultimately recovered to pick up all three points courtesy of a 3-2 victory. Kleindienst was arguably his team's best performer, netting his first brace in Gladbach colours with the cutting edge that he has often displayed in recent times.
The first strike, which put his side in front, was a clever flick from Alassane Pléa's low cross, before he expertly dispatched a penalty into the bottom corner to double his team's advantage.
Two goals are always enjoyable, but there was something extra special about these latest strikes. Not only did they come against the club where he had his big breakthrough, but his rival between the Heidenheim sticks was none other than the best man at his wedding to wife Josephine in 2022.
The two have known each other for 10 years, first meeting when they were both on the books of Energie Cottbus, and they both went on separate professional journeys before reuniting once more at Heidenheim. However, despite being so close with Kleindienst, Müller was unable to stop him from making his mark on Matchday 7.
"Tim told me he would score three goals beforehand, so it's ok," Müller jokingly explained after the final whistle. "If he had scored the third, I would probably have gotten a red card because I would have grabbed him. Seriously, though: it was very special to have him as an opponent for the first time in ten years."
Meanwhile, Kleindienst said, "It's not that easy to score a goal against him [Müller]. So I'm happy that I managed it twice. It almost hurts me to have hurt my old colleagues. But changing clubs is part of football, so at the end of the day I'm of course happy about the win and my two goals."
Kleindienst, then, triumphed on this occasion. The real winner, though, is friendship, and the duo's mutual rise to the top of German football is something to be celebrated!