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Steffen Baumgart after Köln-Aus in Conference League with UEFA criticism

NAfter a furious race to catch up and a very committed performance by 1. FC Köln, the fans gave their team a special farewell to the European Cup. With traditional Cologne songs and lots of applause, they honored their sad heroes, who had just been eliminated from the Europa Conference League after the 2: 2 (0: 2) against OGC Nice. “I’m sorry that we can’t give the fans more games on the European stage,” said offensive man Florian Kainz.

While the players cheered in front of the curve, coach Steffen Baumgart stood petrified in his coaching zone for a few minutes. The 50-year-old later explained that he wasn’t disappointed, “because I’m delighted with the performance and the mentality of my team.”

Baumgart pointed out the following as a characteristic of his team: “We don’t do everything right, but we don’t give up. We’re doing everything we can.” At the end of his club’s European journey, he said: “I would like to thank everyone who has accompanied us on this journey.” That included the supporters.

Cologne wants to play internationally again

Nevertheless, he criticized UEFA in the usual pithy words. “That’s the service provider that’s supposed to organize the competition. He shouldn’t be the center of it all,” Baumgart said after his team’s retirement. “Sometimes I have the feeling that it’s a bit the other way around: that we are the by-product and the focus is then something else. And I just don’t like that,” said Baumgart, referring to the European Football Union.

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