0:5 against 1:5: 1. FC Köln and Bayer Leverkusen meet on Sunday with painful histories. Why FC need to find their way again and Bayer need not question anything fundamental.
Bayer Leverkusen and 1. FC Köln don’t have much in common, the mutual dislike of the fan groups has been firmly cemented for decades and neither begrudges the other the black under their nails.
Ahead of next Sunday’s game, however, there are a few similarities, albeit rather sad ones: both Cologne and Leverkusen are in a state of shock after their five-goal defeats, looking for explanations for the inexplicable and eager to make amends in the next game.
Skhiri and Aranguiz likely to miss again
For this project, both clubs hope that important players will be fit again. According to reports, this is not working out for two key players. Cologne’s Ellyes Skhiri will not be available for the match against Leverkusen because of the knee injury he suffered in the World Cup qualifier in Mauritania. His counterpart on the other side, Bayers Chilean Charles Aranguiz, will almost certainly be absent as well, on Thursday in the Europa League match at Real Betis anyway.
There is hope for the other two problem children on Cologne’s side, Dejan Ljubicic and Jonas Hector, who should have overcome their infections early on. Licensed player boss Thomas Kessler: “We have to give them a bit of time, but I expect them to train with the team again during the week.”
Which, again, applies to Exequiel Palacios on the other side. The Argentine midfielder returned from international duty with a heavy cold, and his coach Gerardo Seoane is cautiously optimistic: “We have to look from day to day. “
Cologne must not change their way, but find it again
Cologne have been engaged in verbal reconstruction work since the final whistle in Sinsheim. The analyses of the 5-0 defeat will show that FC don’t have to change their way, they have to find it again. They didn’t run into the open knife of Hoffenheim because they were hopelessly attacking. It was because the team’s structure crumbled far too early. It wasn’t overconfidence that stopped FC, it was rather a lack of courage and the problem of occupying the right spaces that ultimately led to the defeat.
This should not happen again. That’s why we can expect a double-six against Bayer, which should block the Werkself’s centre and keep the pitch around their own goal as narrow as possible, so as not to offer Bayers sprinters any half-space. The 4-2-3-1 is not a foreign system for coach Steffen Baumgart. With Salih Özcan (whom he saw better than many critics in Sinsheim) as the defensive part in front of the chain and Ljubicic as a creative box-to-box player, FC has two sixes who can fill this role.
Bayer cannot yet start such planning due to the international commitment, with Betis an unpleasant host awaiting, who like the Werkself have won their first two games. In Leverkusen, too, nothing will be fundamentally questioned after the 1:5 against Bayern, but the coach will show his team how valuable structure, compactness, aggressive through defence with protection and the right allocation to the opponent basically are. One thing is clear: if these defensive components are missing, it will be difficult against 1. FC Köln as well.
