Conference League playoff: Baumgart wants to extend Cologne’s euro fairy tale

Conference League Playoff
Baumgart wants to extend Cologne’s euro fairy tale

The press conference in Szekesfehérvár was scheduled for 18.15, but Steffen Baumgart allowed his team to keep scoring and gaining confidence in the training game in a tight field.

Shortly afterwards he was on the podium after all. And when the club spokeswoman apologized for the delay, the 1. FC Köln coach replied in his own way: “I’m not apologizing. Training is more important. And I hope everyone understands that.”

Before the playoff second leg to the Conference League on Thursday at Fehérvár FC (7 p.m. / RTL +), Baumgart does not want to leave anything to chance. Because the euro fairy tale shouldn’t end before it really begins. And there are no excuses in advance. “The place is very good. The hospitality too, the hotel is fine, the flight was fine,” Baumgart said. “All in all, it’s a very, very good setting for watching a good game.”

With a mixture of anger, defiance and determination, his pros arrived in Budapest at 12.20 p.m. sharp on Wednesday afternoon. You don’t need a miracle in the second leg, but you can have a good day and learn from the previous week if the small hurdle in the playoffs doesn’t finally become a stumbling block on the way to the group phase. “It’s clear that it hasn’t gotten any easier,” Baumgart said, referring to the 2-1 home defeat in the first leg: “We’re behind. But we’re convinced that we’re able to turn the result around.”

The self-confidence is great

A defeat against the team of German coach Michael Boris could extinguish the euphoria in the FC environment at once. For the second European Cup season in the last 30 years, extra jerseys were created, rapper Mo-Torres wrote a song called “Effzeh International”, the club puts the season under the motto “Mer fiere dä FC – en Kölle & Europa” (“We celebrate FC – in Cologne & Europe”). If Cologne doesn’t win by at least two goals on Thursday or on penalties, the trip through Europe will come to an abrupt end after three Bundesliga matchdays and Cologne will only be wistful spectators in the group phase.

But the confidence is high. Despite the defeat, most interpreted the first leg after 70 minutes outnumbered as proof of superiority. Baumgart doesn’t have to worry about his players being motivated. More so that they are not over-motivated. “I find it difficult to have anger in my stomach,” said the coach. “We have to keep a cool head. But we’re well prepared and I want to see my team march.”

Hübers: “We still have a score to settle”

But the anger about what they consider to be an unfair result resonates. “We still have a score to settle and I think that will release strength,” said Timo Hübers. Luca Kilian, Hübers’ partner in central defence, said after the first leg: “I’m a bit angry that you’re being rewarded with such a performance. We’ll try to tear their ass off in the second leg!”

But in the end, the FC just paid dearly. And after the first game was probably a bit emotionally overloaded, managing director Christian Keller consciously tries to take the pressure off the team. “We don’t have to do anything,” he said when asked whether the financially ailing 1. FC, which had already failed in the DFB Cup, should progress simply because of the additional income of around ten million euros. The most important lesson from the first leg is “to keep expectations reasonable,” says Keller.

Expected Lineups:

Fehérvár FC: Kovács – Négo, Larsen, Stopira, Schabanow, Heister – Fiola, Pinto – Bamgboye, Dardái – Zivzivadze

1. FC Cologne: Schwäbe – Schmitz, Kilian, Hübers, Pedersen – Skhiri, Hector – Thielmann, Ljubicic, Kainz – Dietz

Referee: Ali Palabiyik (Turkey)

Match info at uefa.com

dpa