“Too many points left behind”: Cologne at Hertha under pressure

Went again with: Ex-Unioner and Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart

Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart wants to win again Photo: City Press

From BZ/dpa

After four games without a win in the Bundesliga, Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart is struggling with his team’s low point tally and is counting on a successful end of the year.

“When you go into a long break like this, the aim is to score beforehand. We just couldn’t do that. Although we would have had the opportunity to do so in all games, especially recently against Leverkusen.” Stephen Baumgart (50) before the away game on Saturday (3.30 p.m.) at Hertha. “Now we have one more game and we really want to score. I see us capable of that.”

Hertha playmaker Ondrej Duda is on the ball in front of Leverkusen's Julian Baumgartlinger

Ondrej Duda (left) was under contract with Hertha from 2016 to 2020 and scored twelve goals in 59 Bundesliga games. He has been playing for Cologne since 2020 Photo: AFP

After the last three defeats and a draw, the Cologne team, who are currently six points ahead of the relegation place holder Berlin, are under pressure in the last game of the year. With a win they want to keep the competition at a distance in the lower half of the table.

“We’re almost halfway through the season and aren’t doing so badly with 17 points, but we dropped too many points,” stressed Baumgart. “Instead of being in the top third of the table, which would have been possible, we are in the bottom third. We want to prevent that. So a win in Berlin would be important.”

The coach let it be known that Ondrej Duda just like Steffen Tigges will most likely appear. Timo Hübers is also returning to training.

Subjects:

1. FC Koln Steffen Baumgart

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