Before the decisive group game in the Europa Conference League between 1. FC Köln and OGC Nice, the Cologne police fear renewed riots. In addition, the personnel situation at FC remains tense.
Steffen Baumgart’s announcement was clear as usual. “Football can’t be there to constantly have a stage where some idiots think they have to show themselves,” said the coach 1. FC Cologne before the second leg in the Europa Conference League against OGC Nice (Thursday, 9 p.m.).
Several injured fans in the first leg
The 50-year-old still remembers the serious riots surrounding the first meeting between the two clubs. “Nice in particular will be remembered for a long time – and not in a positive way,” said Baumgart, referring to the experiences of almost two months ago. “So I hope everyone realizes that this is about football.”
The first leg had started about an hour late due to serious riots. In the south of France there were several injuries around the game on September 8th. A fan fell from the upper tier of the audience.
Cologne police fear renewed riots
In Cologne, too, the police are expecting “a high level of emotionalization among violent supporters of both clubs” around the game this Thursday. In an open letter in German and French, the officials addressed fans of both clubs.
The police will “proceed consistently and take the necessary measures against violent supporters – whether in the vicinity of the stadium or elsewhere in the city,” it said. In Cologne one hopes that this will not be necessary.
“Regardless of the fact that the teams will of course go into the game with a lot of passion because both teams want to win this game, I just hope that we learned from the first game that it doesn’t work that way,” said Baumgart.
Cologne only with victory chances for the knockout phase
In terms of sport, the starting position is clear: If FC wins against the team of former Bundesliga coach Lucien Favre, then he moves into the knockout round and winters in Europe for the first time since 1990.
If he doesn’t win, then the international comeback is over. “We’re going full throttle and then we’ll see what comes of it,” said coach Steffen Baumgart on Wednesday: “We’re playing against the best team in this group, but that shouldn’t interest us.”
Skhiri returns – Hector and Uth are out
Jonas Hector and Mark Uth from 1.FC Cologne
Meanwhile, the staffing situation remains tense. In addition to Jonas Hector, offensive player Mark Uth is also out again. “He just didn’t feel comfortable lately,” said Baumgart about Uth. “The goal is for him to be able to play pain-free again and that’s why we’ve made a cut again for now.”
Besides Hector and Uth are also Dejan Ljubičić, Tim Lemperle, Sebastian Andersson, Dimitris Limnios and Florian Dietz not there. The 24-year-old tore his cruciate ligament in the Bundesliga game against TSG Hoffenheim.
Ellyes Skhiri returns with a special mask just six days after breaking his cheekbone. Jan Thielmann, Jeff Chabot and Mathias Olesen are also at least an option from the bank after a long downtime.
