With a 1-0 win in Regensburg, 1. FC Köln remains within striking distance of the promotion battle. The “billy goats” dedicated the victory to Luca Kilian, who was again seriously injured.
It was heavy football fare that 1. FC Köln offered at SSV Jahn Regensburg on Sunday afternoon. Nevertheless, the “billy goats” won 1-0 at the bottom of the 2nd Bundesliga, remained unbeaten in their seventh competitive game in a row and moved back to within one point of the promotion ranks. However, the FC professionals’ thoughts afterwards were not on the table, but on teammate Luca Kilian.
He tore his cruciate ligament again on Saturday while playing for the Cologne U21s. Just a few weeks ago, Kilian celebrated his comeback after an eight-month break – also after a cruciate ligament tear in his right knee.
In Regensburg, his teammates reacted with a great gesture: goalscorer Tim Lemperle celebrated the decisive 1-0 by holding up Kilian’s number 15 jersey. After the final whistle, the team posed with the jersey in front of the visitors’ block.
Kainz after Kilian’s cruciate ligament tear: “It hit us all”
“Of course it’s extremely bitter, a second cruciate ligament tear is really bad news,” said FC midfielder Eric Martel shortly afterwards. But Martel is “firmly convinced that Luca will come back stronger.” Goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe added: “The first week is always the hardest and I hope that he finds the motivation and attacks again.”
Florian Kainz, who was injured for a long time in the summer, seemed particularly upset. “It’s very hard, very difficult, also for us and for me personally,” explained the Austrian, because: “I did parts of my own rehab with Kili and saw how hard he worked on himself. That’s what happened to us last night hit everyone.”
Cologne’s sports director Christian Keller was also shocked: “When I heard that, I got a stomach ache. Luca was in good shape. The doctors were super happy with the healing process. And then something like that happens. I’m terribly sorry for him .”
Additionally dramatic from Kilian’s perspective: his contract expires on June 30, 2025, and he will not be able to play any more games until then. So far, at least publicly, Keller has not wanted to talk about a possible extension despite the horror diagnosis – but it was clear that FC is unlikely to let its unlucky player drop. “We will give Luca all the support he needs so that he can come back,” assured Keller.
The manager was again critical of the performance in Regensburg. Despite the fourth win in the last five league games, coach Gerhard Struber and the players did not skimp on self-criticism. The voices about the game:
Gerhard Struber: “It was the expected challenge to survive here today and get this win. In the first half we got into the game quite well. We developed a certain dominance in our own ball possession game and repeatedly tried to get behind the last line. Kainzi showed it brilliantly, especially with the goal, once again with good timing from Tim Lemperle. In the second half we were too quickly infected by the opponent’s style and the opponent was able to lose more “It was a well-deserved victory for us because of the opportunities we had and the euphoria we had after this week.”
Christian Keller: “Those were important points. We can play football differently, but the result was right. All the players played on the same pitch, it wasn’t easy for everyone. Despite all the external influences, we are actually capable of playing a game better than Today it didn’t work because we quickly stopped daring to let the ball circulate. At some point we weren’t able to find the depth. The space would have been there, as would the free foot didn’t do it.”
Florian Kainz: “It was very hard work today. Especially in the second half, we had very few forward moves, but in games like this you have to adapt to the conditions. On the pitch conditions it was difficult to combine everything from the back. We have that accepted and defended everything at the back. We have the three points, that’s what counts.”