Borussia Monchengladbach fans have launched a protest against their exclusion from Bundesliga games.

Banners protesting against games taking place behind closed doors were draped over the fencing at the showdown between Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen on the second weekend of action in Germany.

'Fussball ohne fans ist nichts' — (Football without fans is nothing) — read one, while another proclaimed: For Borussia, against ghost games.

"The bleak backdrop of empty stadiums is exactly what these games represent and deserve," said Gladbach fans in a statement.

"We consider the initiative with the cardboard figures to be counter-productive. We understand the well-meaning idea behind it, but we consider the signal to be the wrong one."