The world of football has been somewhat lavish in its use of superlatives in recent years. So how should you classify a league game like that between 1. FC Köln and Borussia Dortmund? Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart boldly announced a day of celebration – and to be honest, mercilessly understated. The 3: 2 (0: 1) offered a total of 25 chances and became a spectacle that is rarely seen because its quality mainly had to do with ability.
And that on both sides. Only the Dortmund faction saw it differently, understandably the guests ignored the many positive aspects in their frustration. BVB coach Edin Terzic said noticeably upset that he “can’t explain how we lose a game that we controlled so much. That annoys us because it’s not the first time it’s happened”.
Anthony Modeste, who left Cologne for Dortmund at the beginning of the season and hasn’t yet settled down, was the center of attention. There was still a high probability that there would be an “of all things” moment, after all there were two former Cologne players in the starting XI at Borussia (alongside Modeste, Salih Özcan).
And indeed, the “calculated” moment came, of course, differently than expected: Steffen Tigges, whom FC had signed in the summer as a possible Modeste replacement, scored the interim 2-1 (55th) with a header in Modeste-style which the Cologne team had turned the game within 120 seconds.
At the break, there was little to suggest that the afternoon in front of 50,000 frenetic spectators would take this turn – the guests performed too confidently, they created chances too skillfully, they dominated the Cologne team too coolly, who after a stormy start were “too dirty ” acted, as Baumgart criticized.
Dribbling and passing à la Musiala
Jamal Musiala from Munich was not present, but was an inspiration in the minds of both clubs. As if Terzic and Baumgart had allowed their players to risk more one-on-one situations, both teams dribbled unusually often; at Cologne especially on the left side Jonas Hector and Florian Kainz, at BVB everywhere on the field. The most notable was Karim Adeyemi, who played two Musiala-esque passes into space that only didn’t appear in TV synopses because there were so many other, even more dangerous scenes. Also impressive: Niklas Süle dribbled slalomly in his own penalty area; Anthony Modeste, Malen and Adeyemi initiated a scoring chance with three backheels.
The 1-0 for the guests was preceded by an exemplary action: defender Meunier stole the ball from Kainz, who was otherwise a strong player, in the middle of Cologne’s half of the game on the sideline, and Adeyemi sent it to Jude Bellingham at lightning speed. The Englishman put Julian Brandt in the limelight with another pass, which was worth seeing and defeated FC goalkeeper Schwäbe. In turn, he then ensured that it remained 0-1 until the break.
Anyone who found this first half classy had no idea what would happen after the change of sides: Cologne pushed the pace again and overran the Westphalians with a passion that the guests could not match. “In the second half we not only ran, we also played really good football,” said Baumgart. His colleague argued: “Exactly what we warned about during the break happened,” said Terzic with an angry undertone. “There was a lack of willingness to take the last step, we invited Cologne.” He didn’t name any names, but he probably meant Adeyemi in particular, who didn’t work sufficiently backwards.
Hazard misses the great chance to make it 3:3
“We played a good first half,” analyzed Julian Brandt, Dortmund’s best outfield player, “with a lot of chances where you could have done yourself a favor by adding more. Then we come out in the second half and defend badly.” In those 20 minutes after the restart, it became clear that Mats Hummels was missing from BVB because of the flu – the central defender duo Schlotterbeck/Süle didn’t make many mistakes, but they made crucial ones. After the undeterred Kainz equalized (53′), Schlotterbeck allowed himself to be blocked by Tigges in an aerial duel (55′), and Süle came too late to make it 3-1, a twirled long-range shot by Dejan Ljubicic (71′).
Only then did Dortmund get back on track: Tom Rothe hit a cross that Benno Schmitz deflected into his own goal (78′). And Modeste of all people almost made it 3: 3 in the last scene of the game – but Hazard pushed the ball past the orphaned goal (88th). “We are a happy but deserved winner,” said Baumgart and found no one who would contradict him.
Edin Terzic decorated his displeasure with sharp words: “After every victory you ask (the media, note) me what the ambitions and goals for the season are. We always step on the euphoria brakes because of games like today.” He would have liked to have done without the brakes. “We know what we can do and what we still have to learn. It was once again visible what has been lacking for years to knock on the door up there.”
