North Rhine-Westphalia

1. FC Köln is hoping for a similarly good performance against Borussia Dortmund as in the first leg, but for a better result. But who should score the goals?

The start of the second half of the season for 1. FC Cologne should take place as planned. The Cologne sports facilities have been pulling out all the stops in the last few days to prepare the Rheinenergiestadion for the Bundesliga clash against Borussia Dortmund and to clear the snow from the grass and the stands. On Saturday it is now time for the “Billy Billy Goats” to give the starting signal for a much better second half of the season and thus prevent the seventh relegation in the club’s history.

The first leg against BVB could have been a good starting point. On the first matchday, August 19, 2023, FC played on a par with last year’s almost champions and missed several top-class chances before Donyell Malen happily scored after 88 minutes to give the favorites a 1-0 win.

“There was more to it than just an unfortunate defeat”

Who knows what kind of course FC’s season would have taken if Cologne had scored points in Dortmund on the first matchday and taken with them self-confidence. “I think everyone still has the first leg in their minds. There was more to it than an unfortunate 1-0 defeat. But that shouldn’t be the focus for Saturday at all,” says licensing department manager Thomas Kessler, not wanting to dwell on what. let in would-if thoughts: “I’m absolutely not a fan of looking far back. In the situation we’re in right now, we should do ourselves the favor of looking forward.”

So here’s to the remaining 17 games in which FC wants to turn things around with Timo Schultz. The new coach tries everything to radiate optimism and courage. Regardless of the first leg and the table, which says something completely different, Schultz speaks of an “eye level” with the Champions League round of 16 from Dortmund and wants to play for a win.

However, Cologne’s problem is well known and has become even worse: goals are needed to win – and Davie Selke, the only FC center forward who has scored so far this season, will be out for weeks. Selke’s five goals are 45.5 percent of Cologne’s only eleven goals. No other Bundesliga professional currently has such a high proportion of his club’s goals. Which is a dubious honor for the “billy goats”.

Starting eleven chance for Dietz?

Schultz leaves it open as to who will replace Selke against Dortmund, saying: “We have enough other boys who want to play and have the ambition to perform in the Bundesliga. It’s the chance for others to step into the breach.” As a one-to-one representation, Steffen Tigges and Florian Dietz would be the “obvious options”. Noticeable: After the final training session on Friday afternoon in the Franz Kremer Stadium, Dietz worked an extra 15-minute shift together with Schultz, who hit crosses. It could be a reference to his first starting XI chance since September 2022.

In the meantime, Dietz had not played a competitive game for almost a year due to a torn cruciate ligament, before he worked his way up again from October 2023 through appearances in the Regionalliga West, where he scored four times in six games. The last Bundesliga goal by a Cologne center forward not named Davie Selke was scored by Steffen Tigges on May 20, 2023 in Bremen. It has been a long time.

2024-01-20 02:31:28
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