1. FC Köln won the Rhenish derby at Bayer Leverkusen and ruined the dress rehearsal for the Europa League semi-finals for the Werkself.
Cologne won 2-1 (2-1) on Friday evening. Striker Davie Selke scored both goals for 1. FC Köln (14th/36th minute), Amine Adli only managed to equalize for Leverkusen (28th).
“Now I’m slowly realizing that it’s a derby after all,” said a satisfied Steffen Baumgart after the game. “A lot of passion, we played football well, we didn’t let ourselves be provoked and kept a clear head.”
By winning as tenth in the table with 38 points, Cologne can only theoretically slip into the relegation zone. If both Stuttgart and Bochum lose, staying up in the league would be assured.
Failed dress rehearsal for Leverkusen
On the other hand, Leverkusen, sixth in the table, suffered a setback in the race for a spot in the European Cup. In addition, the defeat also broke Leverkusen’s series, in which the team had previously remained unbeaten in 14 competitive games.
“The defeat hurts, but we have to keep going,” said Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso soberly.
The defeat meant a failed dress rehearsal before the Europa League semifinals in Rome (Thursday, May 11th, 2023 at 9 p.m.). The game against Cologne was brought forward from Sunday to Friday so that Leverkusen can go into the semi-finals rested. This decision had caused a lot of criticism in the run-up to the game.
Selke hits twice for efficient Cologne
Leverkusen started powerfully and ran high at Cologne, but it wasn’t really dangerous for the guests at first. FC, on the other hand, used their first opportunity to take the lead. Florian Kainz sent a sensitive cross from the right side to Davie Selke (14′), who broke away from Bayer central defender Jonathan Tah in the penalty area and gave Leverkusen keeper Lukas Hradecky no chance with a precise header.
Bayer needed a few minutes to recover, but then kept pushing in front of the opposing goal at high speed. After Cologne’s Thielmann lost the ball on the left flank, Leverkusen combined forward. Moussa Diaby, who was as fast as an arrow, picked up speed on the left and passed in the penalty area across to Amine Adli (28th), who shot dry into the left corner to make it 1-1.
Leverkusen now appeared more self-confident and let Cologne run a lot, but there were no clear chances to score. Then the guests struck ice cold again. Thielmann caught a long ball from Benno Schmitz and sent a sharp cross into the middle, where Selke (36′) came in again and put the ball under the bar from about ten meters.
Cologne defends leadership passionate
In the second half, FC had their first opportunity, captain Jonas Hector (52nd) failed with a volley from the edge of the penalty area to Hradecky. In general, Cologne was now more present. Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso reacted to his team’s harmless start in the second half and brought on Hlozek and the recovered world champion Exequiel Palacios for Amiri and Mitchel Bakker (57′).
But even with fresh staff, Leverkusen couldn’t come up with much against a disciplined defender from Cologne. As the playing time progressed, the game became more difficult, and there were often “pack formations” between the players. FC had a promising counterattack chance in the 84th minute, but didn’t play the attack clean enough.
Shortly before the final whistle, Cologne’s Kingsley Schindler (90′) appeared free in front of Hradecky again, but was unable to get past the Bayer goalkeeper with a shot that was too central.
Leverkusen demanded in Rome during the week
Before the league continues, the Werkself have to make it through the semi-finals of the Europa League in Rome (Thursday, May 11, 2023 at 9 p.m.). The game against Cologne was brought forward from Sunday to Friday so that Leverkusen can go into the semi-finals rested.
On the 32nd matchday, the Leverkusen team will continue in Stuttgart (Sunday, May 14th, 2023 at 3:30 p.m.). 1. FC Köln welcomes Hertha BSC two days earlier (8.30 p.m.).