Daniel Farke’s most important game to date as Borussia Mönchengladbach coach awaits him in the derby against 1. FC Köln.
Corona is over, now Daniel Farke has caught derby fever. “Games like this remind us why we started with football,” said the Borussia Mönchengladbach coach in a still slightly nasal voice before his first duel with 1. FC Köln: “You wanted to go out with your buddies and win. We against them others. The table doesn’t matter.”
In that table, FC is just ahead of Gladbach after the emotional win against Borussia Dortmund, on Sunday (3:30 p.m. / DAZN) the Farke-Elf can turn the tables again.
“With a hot heart but a cool head” his team should face the arch-rival, so Farke. He had enough time to prepare: After his positive corona test, the 45-year-old sat on the sofa for five days, watched the video material “even more meticulously” than usual and, according to his own opinion, “annoyed” his assistant coaches and players on the phone. .
While Farke has not yet experienced a Rhine derby, a large part of his team is looking for revenge. Cologne has won all of the last three duels and can now set a record – FC have only won four derbies in a row in the Bundesliga once (1981 to 1983). Yann Sommer, however, preferred to look ahead. “It’s a new derby. We’re currently in a different mood than last season,” said Gladbach’s goalkeeper.
“You don’t play with the derby”
Many Gladbach fans have bad memories of the lost derby in February 2021 under Marco Rose, who sent a B team onto the pitch at the time. “You don’t play with the derby,” wrote the fan project and made this attitude clear to Rose’s successor Farke at a meeting in early September. The new coach understood, the fan representatives then said: “There shouldn’t be any real risk of history repeating itself in this regard.”
The new sports director Roland Virkus meanwhile appealed to the fans not to use the derby as a stage for violence. “I come from Mönchengladbach and I know that this is a special game. But we should fight each other with respect on the pitch, it should be calm outside,” he said. Glass, bottles and cans are again banned by the city around the stadium.
Cologne keeper Schwäbe: Gladbach is stronger than last year
FC meanwhile want to put aside their disappointment after Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Partizan Belgrade. The archrival comes just in time, goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe is still cautious. “I think Gladbach is stronger this year than last season. I’m excited,” said the keeper.
Returnee Mark Uth also warned against too much euphoria: “Of course I’m hoping for a win in the derby. Gladbach has incredible individual quality, we have to be careful. We have to bring intensity to the pitch, accept duels – and then hopefully win.”