1. FC Köln have to make up for a defeat at FC Fehervar in the Europa Conference League. Nevertheless, one radiates confidence – and can probably look forward to many of their own fans.
It’s about a lot of money for the notoriously cash-strapped FC when they play FC Fehervar on Thursday at 7 p.m. (live audio stream and ticker on sportschau.de). Should Cologne eradicate the first-leg defeat and move into the group stage, around three million euros in secure bonuses beckon. A blessing for the empty coffers. This does not include income from ticket sales, which amounts to around 1.8 million euros per home game when the house is sold out.
Confidence despite the first leg
But it is still more than uncertain whether FC will progress against the Hungarian club. The first leg was lost 1:2 despite great dominance. Nevertheless, confidence prevailed the day after the setback with the Cologne team: “We want to go there and rip their ass open,” defender Luca Kilian put it somewhat martially. His central defender colleague Timo Hübers announced “revenge”.
This confidence is mainly based on the fact that Cologne were clearly dominant despite an early red card and with ten men. Only the end was missing – with the exception of the first twenty minutes. We want to do better now. Jonas Hector, more of a man of quiet words, sees at least a good chance of reaching the group stage: “There’s definitely something in it.”
Lots of FC fans in Hungary
In addition, the game starts again with eleven against eleven – or even twelve, if you will. Because many thousands of Cologne supporters are expected, who by no means all have a ticket, but will probably bathe the small town in Hungary in red and white. The active fan scene has already announced a nearly two-kilometer long fan march.
The club officially received almost 3,000 tickets from the hosts. Although only 14,000 spectators fit into the stadium – that’s far more than the minimum number of five percent stipulated by UEFA as an away quota. In addition, many Cologne fans have secured tickets in other ways. So there should be strong-voiced support on site.
FC must create more chances to score
However, that alone is not enough to eliminate the big deficit from the first leg. “We have to create more chances to score,” explained coach Steffen Baumgart. The fact is: The team could hardly convert the great dominance of the Cologne team, who were outnumbered, into clear opportunities.
And just before the half-time break, FC Fehervar impressively demonstrated how effectiveness works – the Hungarians scored two goals from more or less three chances. That was enough to win despite no offensive efforts in the second half.
Sports director Keller takes the pressure off
FC sports director Christian Keller now wants to go into the second leg without pressure or looking at the financial aspects. “We don’t have to, but we want to get into the group phase,” he told WAZ. Maybe then you can play a little more freely. One thing he wants to avoid: penalty shoot-outs. “I don’t need that. I guess we’re not that good at that either,” he laughed, alluding to the end of the DFB Cup in Regensburg. For three million euros he would probably take a hit from the point.
