Who is Lukas Ullrich? | OneFootball

Lukas Ullrich: who is Borussia Mönchengladbach's talented young German full-back?

Lukas Ullrich has broken into Borussia Mönchengladbach's first team in the 2024/25 season and has laid claim to the starting left-back position, but what else is there to know about the tireless young defender?

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Data correct as of 23 March 2025

Lukas Ullrich

Age: 21 (born 16 March 2004)Club: Borussia MönchengladbachPosition: Left-back/Left midfieldCountry: Germany (U21s)

Key stats

Despite making only his first-ever Bundesliga start for Gladbach on Matchday 9 of the 2024/25 campaign, Ullrich has gone from strength to strength over the course of the season, starting every game bar one for the Foals since. During that time, the youngster has contributed one goal and two assists, as well as helping his side's defence to four clean sheets, which has aided them considerably in their push for European football.

Born in Berlin, the young Ullrich started his youth career playing for multiple local youth teams, before being snapped up by Hertha's academy in 2015, aged 11. Remaining in the Old Lady's academy until being promoted to the reserve team in 2022, Ullrich quickly established himself as the starting left-back in the youth set-up.

In the 2022/23 campaign, Ullrich featured 18 times for the reserves, but never made an appearance for the first team, being third choice behind club legend Marvin Plattenhardt and Maximilian Mittelstädt (now of VfB Stuttgart). This led the youngster to seek pastures new, ultimately joining Gladbach at the end of the season.

Ullrich would only play 44 minutes of first-team football across four substitute appearances in the 2023/24 campaign, largely featuring instead for the reserves, whilst Gladbach fought for their survival in the top flight. However, an injury to starting left-back Luca Netz ahead of Matchday 7 of the 2024/25 season opened the door for Ullrich, and my how he seized his opportunity!

Plays a bit like: Maximilian Mittelstädt

Having been his understudy during his time at Hertha, it's no surprise that Ullrich learned a thing or two from the Germany international. Both are tireless runners who bomb up and down the left flank all game, they're defensively solid (especially in one-on-one situations), and with left feet that seem purpose built for laser-accurate crosses, the comparisons are by no means far fetched.

Did you know?

Ullrich won the February Rookie of the Month award in 2025, beating Bayern's Michael Olise and Wolfsburg's Konstantinos Koulierakis. The youngster averaged 59 touches of the ball per game in February as well as winning 54 percent of his duels. These performances also earned him his first Germany U21 call-up for the March international break.

What they're saying

"Lukas can go at a high intensity for 90 minutes and bite down defensively on the opponent." - Germany U19 manager Guido Streichsbier

"You can see that he's got pace going forward and that he has a very good mentality. He's confident, he's active and he makes runs in behind. He brings a lot to the table playing as an attacking left-back" - Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach Gerardo Seoane

"It was fantastic. My parents and my family were there. Scoring a goal and winning in a stadium that I used to go to as a child, was something very special. I was able to stay in Berlin afterwards and had an all-round great weekend." - Lukas Ullrich on his first Bundesliga goal against Union Berlin

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