Dthree games, three defeats – after a week to forget, disillusionment is back at 1. FC Köln. All hopes of stopping the trend with an away coup turned out to be wishful thinking in the 0: 2 (0: 1) in Belgrade. “It’s a pretty bitter pill. You can’t put a stop to this journey,” complained unlucky Timo Hübers, who had initiated the 0:1 with a major dropout and thus the new setback for the Bundesliga ninth in the Conference League.
Contrary to what was hoped, the enthusiastically acclaimed victory in the Bundesliga at the beginning of October over Dortmund (3:2) did not give a boost. As in the 0:1 at home against Belgrade and the 2:5 in the league derby at Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Cologne team had to pay tribute to their ongoing shortage of personnel. The goals from Fousseni Diabaté (15th minute) and Ricardo Gomez (52nd) also caused a lot of frustration for coach Steffen Baumgart: “An annoying evening. It’s a difficult phase for us at the moment. We have to make sure that we keep a clear head, ”commented the 50-year-old with a worried expression.
The poor performance of his team, which officially had to get by without its own fans after the riots in Nice – some supporters were still visible – the coach, who is actually known for great passion, followed for long stretches without wild gestures and a large range of motion. “We lost two games against an opponent we shouldn’t have lost against,” Baumgart complained.
“We have to perform”
Before the two remaining group games against OGC Nice and 1. FC Slovacko, Cologne are third in the table (4 points) and four points behind leaders Partizan Belgrade. With the surprising 1:2 home defeat by Nice (5) at home against Slovacko (4), FC kept their chance for second place.
Only the first in the group qualifies for the round of 16. The eight second move into an upstream knockout round against the eight Europa League relegated. For the clubs in third and fourth place, the European Cup season is over after the group stage. Hübers doesn’t want to admit defeat just yet: “We can still get six points and get through.”
In the Bundesliga, too, things should go up again quickly. A win on Sunday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN) against FC Augsburg could help to brighten the mood. Hübers does not accept the ongoing shortage of staff as an excuse. “It’s clear that it doesn’t play into our hands if we don’t have six players with starting eleven potential. Nevertheless, we have enough guys who can actually play it.”
Captain Jonas Hector saw it the same way and called for a defiant reaction after the dreary performance in Belgrade: “We have to perform. It doesn’t matter who’s on the field. We are a collective – and that’s how we have to appear.”
