Timo Baumgartl shields the ball, Frankfurt’s Kolo Muani can’t keep up Photo: picture alliance/ Sven Simon
By Sebastian Karkos
Timo Baumgartl (26) is back. After recovering from testicular cancer, defender Sonnabend was allowed to play for the Irons again in Frankfurt (0:2). His second appearance this season after being thrown in at the deep end in the home game against Wolfsburg (2-0).
How far Baumgartl sees? The Swabian: “At a good 90 percent. You can train a lot, but you have to get back into it first. And that only comes through match practice. The fitness is there.”
The decision in Frankfurt: Jesper Lindström makes it 2-0, Union Timo Baumgartl on the ground Photo: picture alliance/ Heiko Rhode
In Frankfurt, however, one saw that Baumgartl is not yet the old man. Especially when conceding the first goal, which Randal Kolo Muani (23) prepared excellently. Mario Götze (30) completed in the 12th minute. Baumgartl: “I knew he was fast. I try to get the ball, he passes it very far, then he comes with speed, passes the next one.”
Timo Baumgartl reacts disappointed after the 0:2 defeat in Frankfurt Photo: picture alliance/ Eibner Presse
Union number 25 honestly: “In the end I still lack the timing after the long phase. Maybe I can foul him, maybe not. When he picks up pace, he’s difficult to defend.”
“I want to encourage other people”
Incidentally, Baumgartl traveled to Mainz immediately after the game in Frankfurt and appeared in the ZDF sports studio on Saturday evening. Of course, there it was again about his cancer. And about his open handling of the diagnosis. Baumgartl: “I want to talk openly about my illness, I want to encourage other people.”
He wants to use the “reach and level of awareness of a football professional” so that “even more people go to the check-up. We football professionals have all put on a thick protective armor. And that’s why we find it particularly difficult to deal with real emotions.”