1. FC Köln is setting an example in the fight to stay in the league. The Billy Goats will fly back to Spain for a training camp in March.
Now everything is subordinated to staying in the league. 1. FC Cologne is once again moving closer together in the fight to save the Bundesliga. The Billy Goats used the last international break of the season in March to take an extraordinary step.
The FC will fly to Spain from March 18th to 23rd and will be based near Alicante on the Costa Blanca for six days. Not a typical training camp, as we normally know it from summer preparation or the winter break, but a kind of boot camp where the FC wants to commit once again.
FC wants to generate momentum for the final spurt
The mission to stay in the league, which had been so difficult in the first half of the season, had recently been revived thanks to a 2-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt despite simultaneous defeats in direct competition. And because the two direct neighbors in the table only played a draw in the catch-up game between Mainz 05 and Union Berlin on Wednesday evening, FC was the winner in the Bundesliga cellar.
Momentum that the billy goats want to carry with them into the coming weeks. Above all, the people of Cologne want to sharpen their senses for the final spurt with the training camp in Spain. After the trip there are only eight games left of the season, six of which are against teams from the bottom half of the table. And it is precisely in these games that salvation should ultimately succeed.
Several players will be missing
Such a trip during the current second half of the season without any special reasons is quite unusual – unless there are current events such as storms. FC St. Pauli is fleeing to Mallorca for five days from Monday because the training pitches in Hamburg are barely playable. Short-term closures for relegation candidates are also not uncommon. However, it has been a long time since a club with a longer lead time used an international break for a training camp in the Bundesliga.
This shows: 1. FC Köln wants to do everything they can to stay in the Bundesliga. It is true that several players will be missing in Spain due to being posted to their national teams (including captain Florian Kainz and U21 captain Eric Martel). Nevertheless, the sports management wants to bring the team closer together under the Spanish sun in order to then achieve the common goal.