The Twitter profile of the Colonia to understand the extent of what happened this year in the city of Germania located on the border with the Netherlands. End of the field game at the end of an home defeat with the Wolfsburg that tastes like victory of the Bundesliga or return to the main German league. Cologne, on the other hand, did not reach any of these goals, they “simply” qualified mathematically for a European Cup next season.
? #ReturnoftheGoat: 2022/23 @fckoeln in the European Cup. ?#UEL | #UECL | @fckoeln_en | @fckoeln_jp pic.twitter.com/Kzhi8EnoeZ
— UEFA.com DE (@UEFAcom_de) May 10, 2022
#ReturnoftheGoat the hashtag used by the official Uefa profile in German to welcome a historic member of the Uefa Cup / Europa League. Cologne boasts 15 participations in this competition and 3 in the European Cup. A little less than a year ago he disputed it playoff against l’Holstein How to stay in the Bundes and this year she has “simply” retrained for Europe, League or Conference League we will find out over the weekend.
19 points more than last year (with one game still to be played), 9 more positions, 17 more goals scored and 13 fewer conceded. This is the balance of a Cologne dragged by two men: the first is a striker considered at the end of his career, returned to the city after disappointing years and an equally disappointing loan to the St Etienne. Anthony Modeste, 5 years after the last time, he dragged Cologne to Europe to the sound of goals. In 2017 they were 25in 2022 it arrived at 19.
The other man is the one who watches his boys celebrate in front of their fans. Stephen Baumgart, a 50-year-old coach who became iconic for his flat cap (“Steffen Baumgart hat” is among the first suggestions on google). At the time of the double promotion of Paderborn (from the third division to the Bundesliga) he wore a classic hat, with the Cologne he changed his look and appearance; and his hat became famous to the point of pushing Modest to steal it from him and cheer after a goal e Neuer swapping his shirt for the technician’s cap.
? @AModeste27 only needed two goals for a ‘hat-trick’ ?#KOEFCU 2-2 pic.twitter.com/3hd69xUxke
– Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) November 7, 2021
A coach who, to put it mildly, we could say that he feels the game a lot. Like when he was unable to stay on the Cologne bench and he necessarily had to follow the game from home. A video that has been around the web and to which everyone can now give a name and a face thanks to the sporting results achieved.
?️@FCKoeln_EN manager Steffen Baumgart had to watch #KOESCF from home – but that didn’t stop him kicking every #Bundesliga ball! ?❤️ pic.twitter.com/5heuy8M7P7
– Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) February 6, 2022
The merit of Cologne, which Baumgart has fielded for half the season with two weight forwards before moving on to 4-2-3-1is to have kept a certain distance from the safety zone and an acceptable disadvantage from the Europe zone, to then perform a exploit in the final rush. 4 consecutive victories with 13 goals scored in the last few games have led Cologne to be able to lose to Wolfsburg and still be mathematically in Europe.
The last act will take place in Stuttgart against a team that is desperate to avoid both direct relegation and play-offs. Access to the Europa League does not depend on Baumgart’s team who must win with a few goals ahead and hope that Union Berlin does not win the three points.
Köln, curiously like Strasbourg in Ligue 1, are the team that performs the most cross in the Bundesliga (530). She is third for total shots and shots in the 90 minutes behind Bayern Munich and Gladbach and among the first for aerial duels won. He excels in the number of times in which the team has obtained the ball by pressing an opposing player, in front of Bayern Munich also in the statistics in which this happens in the offensive trocar.
The statistics for this comparison were taken from whoscored.com.
WE ARE PLAYING IN THE EUROPEAN CUP AGAIN ?? #effzeh pic.twitter.com/cYCxb5VXMg
– 1. FC Cologne (@fckoeln_en) May 7, 2022
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