Little visibility and a lot of confusion – for 1. FC Köln the trip to the Conference League game at 1. FC Slovacko has become a memorable experience with an extra day.
Not only the twice changing of the original kick-off time from 6.45 p.m. to 7.15 p.m. and 8.00 p.m. due to thick fog caused discussions. The fact that the game, which had started with a great delay, was called off prematurely in the seventh minute by referee Giorgi Kruaschwilli from Georgia made the chaos perfect.
“I haven’t experienced that before. But I think it’s the right thing to do,” commented coach Steffen Baumgart. Referring to the new date on October 28 at 1:00 p.m. (CEST), he added jokingly: “Fortunately, I was in the second division long enough. I know how 1:00 p.m. works.”
“We will try to win this game”
Due to the tight schedule before the World Cup in Qatar, there was no other choice when it came to rescheduling. As early as the following week, Cologne (November 3) will be playing their preliminary round showdown at home against Nice. In the Bundesliga, FC meets Hoffenheim in Cologne on October 30th. “The return carriage will then come on Sunday. But we have to live with it and make the best of it,” said Baumgart, concerned that his pros would not have enough recovery time.
The starting position for the Bundesliga tenth is now clearer than before. After the 2:1 win over Partizan Belgrade (8 points), the team from Nice, tied on points, took the lead in the table. Cologne and the Czechs are three points behind.
Baumgart hopes that his team can make up ground in the fight for the round of 16 after the last two defeats against Belgrade: “We will try to win this game.” Only the first in the group qualifies directly for the round of 16. The eight second move into an upstream knockout round against the eight Europa League relegated.
Two other German clubs were recently affected by game transfers similar to those in Cologne. Heavy rain prevented the game between Manchester City and Borussia Mönchengladbach from kicking off in September 2016. In 2001, Bayer Leverkusen’s game at Juventus Turin had to be canceled due to thick fog and was rescheduled for a week later. The fog was too heavy on this date as well, so the game was rescheduled for the following day.
