The fans of 1. FC Köln are looking forward to the climb. For his home game on the 34th matchday, the second division team could have sold more than 300,000 tickets.
The promotion struggle in the 2nd Bundesliga is a snail race, but it electrifies the masses: The 1. FC Cologne could have sold more than 300,000 tickets for its last home game, on May 18 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern – only 50,000 people fit into the RheinEnergiestadion.
Kaiserslautern announced on Wednesday: “Our away contingent for the end of the season in Cologne is sold out after a few minutes – of course. But: Over 100,000 people were in the quota for the limited quota, more than in the pre -sale for the 2024 cup final.”
The Cologne team can easily top this number. On the day of the pre -sale start alone, FC registered around 200,000 ticket inquiries. This value is all the more remarkable because only club members had access. If a free advance sale had taken place, there were no more fans for tickets for May 18.
The followers of the “goats” hope to be able to celebrate the promotion and the second division championship on this day. If FC previously won against Jahn Regensburg (May 3, 8:30 p.m.) and in Nuremberg (May 9, 6.30 p.m.), the return to the Bundesliga would be perfect before the last game of the season against Kaiserslautern.
Swabia: 1. FC Köln has “everything in hand”
However, if the team of coach Gerhard Struber fails against Regensburg or Nuremberg, there is a threat of a heartbeat final against the “red devils” from the Palatinate – a duel around a direct promotion place. Kaiserslautern is currently only in the table seventh, but has started speed again at the debut of the new coach Torsten Lieberknecht with a 2-1 win against Schalke 04. The gap to leaders Cologne is currently five points.
“We hope that we will score our points in the next few weeks. We continue to have everything in our own hands,” said goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe after the 0-1 defeat at Hannover 96 last Sunday. If the FC had won the Lower Saxony, the Struber team could have finalized the ascent against Regensburg even on Saturday evening. But now it remains unnecessarily exciting from a Cologne perspective.
“We are stable and experienced. There will be no waste just because we have something to lose,” said Schwäbe. So he does not believe that the lead could exert too much pressure. Whether against Regensburg, Nuremberg or Kaiserlautern – FC wants to take the last steps to promotion and celebrate on May 18 in a completely sold out RheinEnergieStadion.