24
17:55
Overall, around the middle of the first half, a balanced game can be reported. At the beginning of Schalke’s return to the Bundesliga, the Royal Blues were extremely intense in the duels and pressed hard, but in the last few minutes it was the hosts who set the tone.
21
17:53
Dietz now employs the S04 defense! Ljubicic stages him with a high pass and has a lot of space on the left. He shows himself to be somewhat lacking in purpose in his action, allowing himself to be pushed outwards until he shoots from an acute angle. Schwolow steers the ball past the outside of the goal.
19
17:51
The Cologne team now have a short urge, but are unable to produce a real shot on goal from a deep run by Dietz or a half-field free-kick from the left.
17
17:49
At the following corner is the cheers on the tongues of some Cologne supporters for the first time! At the second post, Chabot comes to an end after the previous header extension, but pushes the ball just past the left post from close range.
17
17:48
Zalazar has been the most active man on offense so far, but now he’s also working on defense. He fakes a long-range shot from Skhiri decisively into the goal.
16
17:47
Emotions naturally run high on the sidelines and in the stands. In the first few minutes after the decision, however, there were no scenes in the penalty area.
14
17:46
After the decision-making process of the video assistants and Schröder in the review area took a long time, things can now continue. Free kick for Cologne.
10
17:43
VAR decision: The goal by R. Zalazar (FC Schalke 04) is disallowed, score: 0-0
It took a long time before the decision was made: Zalazar’s goal didn’t count! It’s a shame, because it was a nice goal: Zalazar slammed the ball from the edge of the box into the corner! Ouwejan brought the ball in beforehand, Köln defended the ball at Zalazar’s feet. He pulls off with a dropkick and chases him into the net with great shooting technique high on the right. But Yoshida blocked Schwäbe’s view in a passive offside position. It stays at 0:0.
9.
17:40
In this Schwolow comes from the line, but misjudged. Chabot cannot take advantage of this on the second post, he can no longer press the ball that is a little too high enough, so that it flies past the goal on the right.
8th.
17:39
The hosts’ first half-field free-kick found no takers in the penalty area, Polter cleared behind the second post with his chest for a corner kick.
7.
17:38
Although Effzeh has now let the ball run quietly in the ranks for some time, it is clear early on that it could be an emotional evening in the Rhein-Energie Stadium. A high intensity does not only come from the ranks in this western duel, the trainers – especially Baumgart – can of course also bring it in.
5.
17:36
The first few minutes were played particularly intensively, now the Domstädter calm things down a bit.
4.
17:35
After losing the ball, Cédric Brunner smothers a possible counterattack by Cologne – with a foul. Schröder takes him to his chest and verbally admonishes him.
2.
17:33
Effzeh wears the red and white jerseys, Schalke of course wears royal blue. The Knappen can also record the first offensive actions: Zalazar prevails and fires a first shot in the direction of the FC goal. Schwäbe has not had any problems with this lax attempt.
1.
17:32
The referee Robert Schröder has kicked off the game, Cologne and Schalke are starting the Bundesliga season!
17:29
Keyword transfers: Modeste is not in the squad for Cologne due to the change, but new signing Kilian starts in central defense instead of the ailing Hübers. Schindler, Thielmann and Dietz are on the offensive – instead of Modeste, the injured Uth and Adamyan. Schwäbe returns between the posts.
17:27
On the side of the newcomers, former Mainz central defender Luca Kilian stands out, while Sargis Adamyan and Steffen Tigges should strengthen the offensive. Youngster Eric Martel is said to be a transfer for the future.
17:25
A little has also happened at Effzeh: Steffen Baumgart can no longer rely on Salih Özcan, the midfield engine of the past season has moved to BVB. Louis Schaub and Jannes Horn also left the club for free. But the most exciting announcement came just today in the run-up to the game: Star striker Anthony Modeste is also leaving Effzeh for Dortmund, where he is needed as a Haller replacement.
17:24
The situation is different for Ouwejan and Zalazar, the two former loan players have been signed. There are also a few exciting new faces: Sebastian Polter is supposed to step up the attack, and Tobias Mohr and Florent Mollet could also fuel the competition on offense. King transfer could be at royal blue but Tom Krauss, the Leipziger who was last loaned to Nuremberg comes first for a year on loan, is automatically committed in the event of relegation. The youth national player has many hopes for Schalke. Of these newcomers only Mollet does not play from the start, overall it is exactly the same starting XI as in the 5-0 win against Bremer SV.
17:21
In the summer of transfers, the focus was on getting the well-earning Kabak and Matondo off the payroll and raking in a few million with the departures. Bozdogan left the club alongside the two, Ko Itakura did not take the option to buy – the Japanese now plays for Gladbach.
17:19
Around 10,000 Schalke away fans, who gave the season opener in Bremen a great atmosphere, made the new Knappen coach Frank Kramer look forward to it. “It was a cup game away – and yet everything was in blue and white,” he said happily in an interview with “WAZ” and of course added: “It was more tingling than in the preparatory games.” Today also the start of the league!
17:15
An advantage that Schalke has over Cologne: the expectations in the environment are not that high. As is the case at Schalke, there have already been voices calling for a return to the upper table regions. But these were isolated, all in all one expects nothing else in Gelsenkirchen than relegation. Unlike today’s opponents, the season started satisfactorily in the first round of the cup, S04 won 5-0 at Bremer SV.
17:11
Of course, they clearly want to prevent a possible relegation battle this season, which is why Baumgart modestly formulated the goal of the season despite last year’s strong placing: “Keeping the club out of all difficulties is our first goal.” If that’s done, FC would be about “successful To play football”. What exactly does that mean? room for interpretation!
17:11
But unlike five years ago, the euphoric mood at the beginning of the season is a bit more inhibited, for two reasons: On the one hand, Cologne had the experience of suffering from the triple burden at the time and were relegated by a clear margin at the end of the season – this history should by no means be repeated. On the other hand, the cup failure at Jahn Regensburg clouded the mood in the city of millions, FC Managing Director Christian Keller clearly described the mood as “really shitty”.
17:03
The Effzeh is actually euphoric about Europe! Finishing seventh last season, the Domstadt team qualified for the European Cup, as they did in 2016/17. In fact, they still have to make it into the Europa Conference League in the playoffs – they will probably face Hungarian club FC Fehervar.
17:01
The two NRW clubs conclude the first Bundesliga matchday. For both clubs it is a situation before a season that could bring a lot with it. While 1. FC Köln should, after the last surprise season, continue to consolidate without worrying about relegation, Schalke’s only goal after returning to the Bundesliga is to stay in the league.
16:56
Hello and welcome to the end of the first Bundesliga match day! 1. FC Köln invite FC Schalke 04 to a West duel in the Rhein-Energie-Stadion early on Sunday evening. The game kicks off at 5:30 p.m.