New worries? Two FC professionals break off training

Newsblog for 1. FC Cologne

New worries? Two FC professionals break off training

The 1. FC Köln is the football club from the cathedral city. In the New sticker on T-Online you will find all the important messages about the “billy goats”.

The training week of the 1st FC Köln before the away game at Greuther Fürth started with new concerns. Dejan Ljubicic and Max Finkgräfe had to go to the cabin early on Tuesday. In addition, captain Timo Hüber, who only trained individually, threatens to miss the third game in a row due to his gastrointestinal infection.

Ljubicic complained about ankle problems in the unit on Tuesday morning and went off the lawn after a break of treatment. The Austrian had already felt pain last week, but an MRI examination had actually caused the all-clear. Finkgräfe in turn was treated on the left thigh immediately before the end of the training session and could not continue. Investigations are pending.

Florian Dietz had caught it a little more than a week ago. The loan striker of the 1st FC Köln suffered a shoulder injury in the game with the SCR Altach, which could possibly force him to look for the rest of the season. Now it has hit Malek El Mala another striker of the billy goats that is currently awarded.

In the semi-finals of the Middle Rhine Cup, the 20-year-old suffered a double ligament tear in Viktoria Köln 1-0. With the Höhenbergers, the trouble afterwards was big despite the final. The reason for the youngsters’ kinking was the poor quality of space with the opponent Teutonia Weiden. For Malek El Mala, the season is likely to have run before he will switch to Geißbockheim with his brother Said in summer.

Fabian Reese was the decisive man in the 0-1 defeat of the 1. FC Köln against Hertha BSC. The Berlin attacker scored the only goal of the evening in the RheinEnergiestadion on Saturday. “It was a very, very nice goal, he hit it outstanding,” FC sports director Christian Keller had to praise and knew: “This is no coincidence with him, he does it every now and then.”

Keller’s enthusiasm did not come from approximate. Two years ago, when Reese had switched from Holstein Kiel to Hertha free of charge, the people of Cologne had also tried for the offensive player. The Keller confirmed this for the first time on Saturday evening at Sky: “We talked to each other in 2023. He is a very, very good player.” At the time, Reese had met with the FC bosses for a personal conversation, but ultimately decided on Berlin.

Julian Pauli celebrated his comeback against Hertha BSC on Saturday evening. Almost four months after his serious head injury-suffered against the Hertha in the DFB Cup in early December-the 19-year-old was substituted for Jan Thielmann on matchday 28 against the Berliners in the 73rd minute.

Pauli could not prevent the 0-1 loss. However, after months of fear of his health, his comeback was a positive aspect for Cologne. “For Julian we were all happy today after this long time,” said sports manager Christian Keller after the game.

At 1. FC Köln there is a personal surprise before the home game against Hertha BSC. If coach Gerhard Struber had excluded a comeback from Damion Downs on Thursday, the attacker seems to be able to return to the squad against Berlin on Saturday.