1. FC Köln stormed into the group stage of the Conference League with a win at FC Fehérvár. After the final whistle there was huge relief at FC.
After the redeeming final whistle, there was boundless cheering in the stands, Steffen Baumgart and his players let the frenetic fans celebrate for minutes: 1. FC Köln stormed into the group phase of the Conference League with an energetic performance – and can look forward to a warm shower of money .
The Bundesliga side won the playoff second leg at Hungarian outsiders FC Fehérvár 3-0 (1-0), making up for the 2-1 defeat in the first duel.
“The whole club has done something that we might not realize until tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. Everyone saw that the boys gave it their all,” said coach Baumgart, who had to go to the stands in the hectic final phase, on “RTL +”: “We’re proud. I’m just happy to get through. When I’m in the dressing room, I’ll probably slump and calm down.”
Hübers initiates Cologne’s away win
Central defender Timo Hübers (10th) calmed the nerves early on with his headed goal. Ellyes Skhiri (46′) and Kingsley Schindler (90’+4′) scored the other goals for FC.
Fehérvár, coached by German coach Michael Boris and with former Berlin Bundesliga player Palko Dárdai in the starting line-up, struggled against being eliminated, but bit his teeth at the strong Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe.
FC collects almost three million euros for getting into the group phase, where there is much more to be earned in the three home games and with possible point bonuses. Money that the club can use very well. The groups will be drawn in Istanbul on Friday.
“We’re all happy, the players should celebrate”
“I’m very relieved, in total over 180 minutes it was deserved. We’re all happy, the players should celebrate – it was exhausting,” said Cologne’s managing director Christian Keller: “We’ll try to continue to pay back the great support of our fans. “
As in the first leg a week ago in Cologne, FC started stormy – and took the lead with the first chance to score. After a corner kick from Florian Kainz, Hübers headed the ball into the goal, much to the delight of the nearly 3,000 fans who had traveled with them. With the 1-0 in their backs, Cologne controlled the game, but didn’t immediately push for the second goal.
This fell immediately after the restart: Skhiri had a free shot after a corner and converted with nerves of steel. Cologne now took it slower and got into trouble for the first time. Schwäbe saved several times against Budu Siwsiwadse (61st, 70th).
With a bit of luck, FC survived this tricky phase – after Schindler’s goal to make it 3-0, the Cologne team was overjoyed.