Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart takes some things personally, and he doesn’t hold back with his opinion. On the contrary: he knows how to express his displeasure in his own, direct language, in unambiguous words. Just like on Saturday, after 1. FC Cologne ended their visit to Champions League contenders RB Leipzig with a 0:6 – and was even well served, as Cologne’s sports director Christian Keller explained.
It could happen, said Baumgart, “that we’ll get our asses full” if we meet teams in the current cup winner’s category and they also demonstrate their quality. We have to and will live with that. “What I can’t live with, and it’s very clearly announced, is that you stop or everyone runs on the pitch for themselves,” said Baumgart. Against Leipzig, the Cologne coach had seen exactly that in too many phases of the game; especially in the minutes after Leipzig’s second goal by Loïs Openda (40th), which caused FC to collapse.
By half time, goals were conceded three (David Raum/43.) and four (Openda/45.+2). Timo Werner had previously scored from a penalty (15th). That’s not how he imagines football, Baumgart emphasized, also referring to the final minutes in which Benjamin Sesko and Christoph Baumgartner ensured a shameful final score. “Effzeh”, who is often said to be powerful at home, is now second to last, with just four points from nine games and 7:21 goals.
How charged Baumgart was with his team’s performance was shown by the outburst that he followed the yellow-red card for substitute Mathias Olesen (80th). Baumgart tapped his forehead while talking to the fourth official and was well served with a warning; However, he later followed up with an apology to the referee team because he had to admit that Olesen had actually hit Leipzig defender Mohamed Simakan in the knee during the second yellow card and inflicted a small wound on him.
Simons and Openda harmonize better than Bonnie & Clyde
Another indication of the monumental annoyance over Cologne’s worst defeat since the 7-0 defeat against FC Bayern more than 50 years ago was that Baumgart called the team together after the final whistle and apparently sharply reprimanded them in public. He kept to himself what words were used – what is said on the pitch stays on the pitch. He was simply confirming the obvious, that is, that he had become emotional. Licensed player boss Thomas Kessler, who was one of the earwitnesses, may have conveyed at least part of the message when he told the media after the game that the Cologne team had committed many sins that “are not at all commonplace in the Bundesliga allowed” (and probably not on Tuesday in the cup at 1. FC Kaiserslautern either). One or the other committed more sins than the entire city during carnival.
Kessler’s comment was correct. Not least because Cologne’s defense made some absurd individual mistakes. In its absoluteness, however, Kessler’s dictum was latently close to an offense of embezzlement. The truth of Saturday was that the higher quality Leipzig players delivered a very good, harmonious and resolute performance throughout the entire game – and even played brilliantly at times. This was particularly true for Xavi Simons and Openda, who harmonized even better with each other than Bonnie & Clyde. And they deserved every applause. “We played a really, really, really good game,” said Openda.
In Leipzig they love Xavi Simons (2nd from right) very much.
(Photo: Ronny Hartmann/AFP)
His two goals followed spectacular preparations by Xavi, who is basically already missing in Leipzig. The Dutch international is on loan from Paris Saint-Germain and is likely to be recalled to the Seine given his exceptional performances. It was also because of him that Leipzig coach Marco Rose was able to attest that his team had played “a top game”.
And yet: Rose’s senses were clouded by the new injury to Dani Olmo, who had just recovered from a knee injury. The Spaniard was scheduled to play for half an hour on Saturday. But a few minutes after being substituted he had to leave the pitch again. After a foul, he fell on his left shoulder; Since Sunday it has been clear that the first half of the season is over for the Spanish international. He suffered a sprained acromioclavicular joint and required surgery. The result: a four to six week break. At least. It could even take three months before Olmo is fully operational again. “It’s really hard for me to bear, and for the boy too,” said Rose on Saturday – and wasn’t just referring to the cup duel at VfL Wolfsburg on Tuesday.