Exclusive: Kwasniok teases before derby against Bayer
12/12/2025 6:00 p.m. | 2:56m
Before the Rhine derby against Bayer Leverkusen, Cologne coach Lukas Kwasniok took a dig at his arch-rival in an exclusive interview with RTL/ntv and sport.de.
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Well, bigger. I think there are no two opinions that the first FC Köln is bigger, just more successful in recent years. Bayer Leverkusen was clear. But you asked about the size of the club, and I think the answer is simply factual and substantiated.
So you would say the power on the Rhine is Leverkusen?
No, it’s just that Bayer Leverkusen has been successful in recent years. And it’s not about power games. At least not for me. It’s all about winning a game tomorrow. Because we need points so that we can reach our goal as quickly as possible.
Two things about it. On the one hand, it is FC Bayern, who have been very successful in recent years. And if someone succeeds at FC Bayern, then I think he’s on a different shelf in terms of quality, and Joshua Kimmich, he’s achieved something. He delivered, proven in the Bundesliga. And I think he can now assess the qualities of individual players, even across Germany, better than I can. I’ve been Bundesliga coach for five months now and then I think it’s right to keep my mouth shut every now and then. And that’s what I’m doing here.
I simply said that it can be abolished in the form it currently exists. I think, to get to the point, and I’ll repeat myself, it’s not about clear factual decisions apart from Thor. Thor is the ball behind the line. If he is not behind the line, he is out of the side goal. It’s a black and white decision. Because of me, even if you want it that way. They also do not apply to hand penalties or goals that are scored immediately after a handball. Then it’s unfortunate. But that’s a clear black and white decision and then you can use it. But I find everything that is subjective, where a dynamic predominates, difficult. And then you would have to go into detail, because there too it makes sense at one point or another. But. He shouldn’t dominate the game, the referee should do it. And I think that a return to the roots of football, namely emotion, would do us all a lot of good.