As so often in the last few weeks, 1. FC Köln absolutely had to win. As always in the last few weeks, he didn’t. The relegation seems clear, it could be sealed as early as Sunday.
For over 90 minutes, the Cologne fans sang, shouted and frenetically cheered on their team in the constant rain. But when the final whistle sounded, it was eerily quiet in the stands – 1. FC Köln is on the verge of relegation from the Bundesliga after a 0-0 draw against FC Freiburg. It could happen as early as Sunday for the three-time German champions.
Coach Timo Schultz gathered his players on the pitch for a speech; he looked at disappointed faces. After previous relegations, FC came back four times in the first year and twice in the second year. But FIFA’s transfer ban, which prohibits Cologne from signing players in the summer, makes the mission more difficult than ever.
“The team gave full throttle, we tried everything. The goal was missing in the end. (…) We would have liked to get the three important points,” said Faride Alidou on the TV channel Sky. “We will believe in it (to stay in the league) until the last minute. We have to hope that the others slip up a bit.”
At Freiburg, coach Christian Streich, in his 389th and third-to-last game as SC coach, increased the likelihood of saying goodbye with the third European Cup qualification in a row. Eighth place is probably enough this year, Freiburg is currently seventh, the remaining program with games against Heidenheim and at Union seems solvable. “We’re still going strong,” said Christian Günter.
However, the Breisgauer team missed out on their fourth away win in a row against Streich’s favorite opponent – he didn’t win against anyone more often – and thus a club record. Streich takes a curious statistic with him: in his entire coaching career he remained unbeaten in top games on Saturday evening, the 58-year-old played eight of them with the SC.
Cologne starts without a classic striker
The offensive has been Cologne’s weakness since the start of the season. And in this important game, Schultz even started without a trained striker. Davie Selke and Mark Uth were injured, Steffen Tigges and Sargis Adamyan were on the bench. As did captain Florian Kainz again until the 68th minute. Not a striker, but also an offensive force.
Alidou, a classic winger, started in the offensive center. But he acted extremely unhappy. Significant scene: After a shot from around 20 meters from a good central position, there was almost a throw-in (35th).
FC move forward with courageous play
Nevertheless, in contrast to the last two games, the Cologne team at least started forward with courageous play. Linton Maina had a good chance to take the lead in the 3rd minute, but narrowly missed from ten meters. After 17 minutes, Eric Martel dangerously deflected a shot from Jan Thielmann with his heel, but Noah Atubolu in the Freiburg goal could not be outwitted.
The Freiburg team initially didn’t appear in front of the Cologne goal, but when they did, the score was close to 0-1: Vincenzo Grifo, in his 200th Bundesliga game for the Breisgauers, headed just wide from five meters (20′). Until the break it was a tough battle without any major excitement in front of either goal. The Cologne spectators noticed that the players were starting to think and cheered on their team with extremely loud chants.
Perhaps driven by this, the Cologne team increased the vehemence of their running as the rain became increasingly heavy after the break. But as is so often the case, the resources were lacking. Balls that were captured were quickly lost again; there was too little structure and creativity in Cologne’s attacking efforts. And after just under an hour, defense chief Jeff Chabot, as has almost always been Cologne’s best player in recent weeks, had to leave the field injured. Alidou still had a great chance in the 71st minute, but Atubolu made a strong save with one arm.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
