The 15th in the Bundesliga against the 16th – the game between Union Berlin and 1. FC Köln is about important points in the relegation battle. Steffen Baumgart is even affected twice.
Who hibernates above the line and who below? This question is answered in the Bundesliga game between Union Berlin and 1. FC Cologne. The 15th, i.e. the last place that would mean staying in the league, meets the 16th, i.e. the team that would have to go into relegation according to the current status. And the two are only a blink of an eye apart, Union and Cologne are level on points (ten points), have the same goal difference (minus 16), but the Berliners have scored more goals. And in the middle of this precarious situation: Steffen Baumgart.
Baumgart with Cologne in crisis
After two worry-free years in Cologne with seventh and eleventh place, the FC coach has been fighting in vain against the lack of success so far this season. Most recently against Mainz 05 (0:0) and at SC Freiburg (0:2) there were again sobering results, which led to Cologne once again taking a place that would not be enough to stay in the league.
“We will work, we will carry on – and everything else is nonsense anyway. It’s not that everything looks dark now, it’s that we’re not getting good results” Baumgart said last.
Baumgart – number 72 on flat cap and unionmember card
This frustrating realization not only applies to him as a coach, but also to his life as a fan. In his private life, his football heart lies with his next opponent, Union Berlin. Baumgart was a striker for the “Iron” from 2002 to 2004 and he is still on fire for the club today. “I’m still a Unioner and always will be” he said in 2019.
Baumgart is still a club member (membership number 72 – like his year of birth and the number on his flat cap) and plays in the traditional team. He spends as much time as possible with his family in Berlin’s Union district of Köpenick; his apartment is only one kilometer away from the “Alte Försterei”. And his wife Katja, with whom he has been married since 1997, is an ardent fan and ran the club’s fan shops until 2021. A founder’s stone still stands on the stadium grounds with the words written on it: “Steffen Baumgart – See you.”
It’s all about getting important points for Cologne
To this day, the former crowd favorite (was voted “Unioner of the Year” in both of his years) is extremely popular. “Although I only played there for two years, it was the most formative phase I had in my 14 years as a professional footballer. I still live in Köpenick, at least when I don’t live in Cologne, and I probably won’t move my center of life away from Köpenick again” said Baumgart at the beginning of the year in the “RBB”.
On Wednesday he will return to his living room, so to speak, but for him it’s not about feeling the well-being of his time as a player or private player in Berlin-Köpenick, but rather about scoring vital points as coach of 1. FC Köln. In this case, his job is to harm “his” club, which is currently under pressure after the 3-0 defeat at VfL Bochum, in order to help his employer.