After the bankruptcy in the home game, Cologne must score points in Belgrade in order to maintain good prospects in the Conference League. In Serbia, FC lacks not only a few players but also fan support.
Cologne/Belgrad (dpa/lnw) – 1. FC Köln must survive with a rump squad and no tailwind from support from the ranks at Partizan Belgrade in order to have a chance of winning the group in the Football Conference League. “It’s not an easy situation now, but we mustn’t let ourselves be defeated and have to stay with us,” said midfielder Florian Kainz after the Rhinelanders lost two consecutive competitive games and before the landmark match on Thursday (6.45 p.m.) in Belgrade. In Serbia, according to a decision by UEFA, the Cologne team must also do without the support of the fans.
However, there are no worries at FC that the lack of supporters could have a negative impact on the team. “I’m not worried about that at all. The players are able to focus completely. I don’t think that what’s going on around them will play a big role,” said sporting director Christian Keller.
The game at Partizan is the first of two away games in which the Bundesliga side will have to do without their own supporters. After riots in the match at OGC Nice, the club was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 euros and to banning fans. In the penultimate game of the group stage on October 27 against FC Slovácko from the Czech Republic, Cologne will have to do without their supporters. In Belgrade, the Bundesliga club is only allowed to issue 200 main grandstand tickets to officials in the club. “But I don’t assume that they will bring in the same acoustics as the guest curve,” said Keller.
Cologne had lost the Rhine derby in the Bundesliga at Borussia Mönchengladbach (2:5) and before that the home game in the Conference League against Belgrade (0:1) and is now under pressure. Going into the 4th matchday, FC are third in the table (four points) and one point behind Nice and Belgrade in the top ranks. Only the first in the group qualifies for the round of 16. The eight second move into an upstream knockout round against the eight Europa League relegated. For the clubs in third and fourth place, the European Cup season is over after the group stage.
In addition to Dejan Ljubicic, who suffered a knee injury against Gladbach and will probably be out for several weeks, coach Steffen Baumgart is also not available for the injured Jeff Chabot, Tim Lemperle, Mathias Olesen and Sebastian Andersson, as well as Jan Thielmann, who is suffering from an infection. “It hurts. We’re slowly running out of guys who are important for our game,” said Baumgart.
