The image of the crying clown is frowned upon in art for good reason: too kitschy. And yet after Stuttgart’s 3-0 win against 1. FC Köln, which was rather too low, one felt reminded of the same motif from the empire of cheap prints. Hundreds of Cologne fans, of whom an estimated 99 percent defensively traveled to Swabia in carnival costumes, looked deeply sad out of brightly colored glasses on their way home. Apparently they, too, had expected a little more than nothing from this afternoon. Especially since the table constellation was exactly as it was described by Cologne’s sporting director Christian Keller after the game: “That was an important game for us in terms of the table. We had the chance to move further from the bottom places and develop fantasies towards seventh place to be able to.”
In fact, everything that happened that afternoon occurred with the caveat that Cologne, as competitive opponents, were largely eliminated. Ultimately, for example, the performance of Stuttgart goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow, who is to replace Florian Müller in the future, was not to be judged, which he says “found out on Thursday because a friend sent me a text from the kicker”. Bredlow did what had to be done. And that wasn’t much: If at all, Cologne tried it with high, wide balls that came down everywhere, but rarely in the Stuttgart penalty area. Bredlow had his biggest test after more than an hour when he deflected a shot from Jonas Hector over the bar.
Now, of course, it wasn’t as if Stuttgart’s 3-0 had nothing to do with Stuttgart. VfB had already played well against Bremen (0:2) and especially at 1:2 in Freiburg, but were inferior because few opposing chances led to goals – but not their own. “It’s great that we won, that’s what the team needed. That was an important step – nothing more and nothing less. We have to keep at it,” said VfB coach Bruno Labbadia after the game. The three points take a bit of pressure off him – his commitment should actually turn the tide in the relegation battle.
After a powerful and superior first half, in which Gil Dias made it 1-0 (9th), there wasn’t much to criticize, except that two more good opportunities went unused and the spectators collectively feared déjà vu. VfB recently had a certain amount of expertise in wasting tours. And even on this intoxicating Saturday, when Tanguy Coulibaly finished 3-0 (74th), it was clear why this team needed so many chances in the previous 20 matchdays to score so few goals.
Borna Sosa says he doesn’t practice free kicks – and scores with a free kick
The way in which Dias messed up a margin opportunity (53′) may have displeased Labbadia just as much as an action by Silas. Apparently he had been told so often before that a striker had to score, that he tried it at exactly the wrong moment instead of playing to the right or left, where hopeful colleagues were ready (65th). So it was no coincidence that the player, who again stood out quite clearly in quality despite a long injury break, scored the important 2-0 with a magnificent direct free kick (59th): Borna Sosa, who claimed after the game that he practices such free kicks not. And if you do, then “after training and just for fun. There are many situations in football where you have to improvise”.
But all of that is secondary, he said and suddenly looked very intently at the group of journalists: “We absolutely had to win this game today.” Since that succeeded, Sosa’s coach, who had previously only been able to draw two out of five games, seemed at least as relieved as the Stuttgart fans. They had come to the game in a very uncarnivalesque way in fan work clothes, but looked quite euphoric immediately after the final whistle. Especially since the two relegation rivals Bochum and Hoffenheim had already lost at this point.
