All or nothing with a handicap. As with sports betting, 1. FC Köln will be playing in the second leg of the relegation with a large mortgage at Holstein Kiel in the very last final of this season, which is rich in finals. 0: 1 and still the bet is: “Sieg Köln”. The relegation second leg decides on weal and woe, on the league membership of the glorious 1. FC Köln, this game decides everything.
The FC management has bet. The board of directors, the two managing directors Horst Heldt and Alexander Wehrle made bets, and yes, the first team of this club also made bets. Many of the missions in the Bundesliga season that has just ended have been gambled away, almost nothing has worked. It basically starts with the decision from last season to even extend a coach’s contract, who prevented relegation, but messed up all games “since Corona”.
Playing time as a risky bet
And the betting continues rapidly. Say goodbye to the top scorer of the second Bundesliga, Simon Terodde, with a golden handshake, make a special bet on the rise of Hamburger SV without going into the season without a fit striker, borrow a young man from Scandinavia, send the old star away in winter, always with the coach It is to be noted that the offered football is still so conceptless and so on and so on. The management of 1. FC Köln likes sports betting, it seems. A miracle that a certain premium sponsor no longer offered these very special bets to the general public, would have been noticeably different.
Photo: imago images / Herbert Bucco
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But how is it with gambling addicts? They don’t know their own limits, it just goes on and on. The next attempt, the next risky idea. If that works, we’ll bring everything back in! So now the very last bet. With a handicap on the away win. The best thing is “over 2.5 goals in the game”, that increases the rate. Why is it the last bet? Quite simply, the stakes are so high. The mission this time: everything. More is not possible. Or should I write: Nothing works anymore?
The finals under Markus Gisdol had occasionally delivered small interim successes. Not enough to make a real profit, but enough to keep going. The endless series of finals began early with the game in Dortmund. Supposed endgame won, the disaster continues. Looking back, you could have noticed it earlier, should have noticed. But there was always hope. For years now, nothing has gone without hope at 1. FC Köln. And so those responsible hardly noticed that their team, that their project was slipping into ruin.
The abyss is near
And doom is so close Not conceded a goal? Good idea, but not enough. A draw in Kiel? Not enough. It has to be a victory. It is best to have one with more than one goal of your own, otherwise the final final will also go into extra time. And nobody really wants that. Even our nerves can no longer take part. Who at FC will certify this aging process that the disappointed supporters have suffered once more?
So now everything is at stake in Kiel. And that in front of spectators. It is hard to put into words how long it has been since effzeh was allowed to present itself to them. Maybe it was better that way. On the other hand, 1. FC Köln cannot play with them as badly as without spectators – not even if the guests only come from their hometown, only from Kiel. So men, let’s go to the last stand. The most absurd bets sometimes unexpectedly come true. This last bet also has the traditional Cologne motto: It would still have jot jejange.
That’s what the trainers say
Friedhelm Funkel: “We are now at halftime, the score is 0: 1. Nothing has to be decided yet. We’re going to have to perform better. We obviously want to pose more problems for Kiel in the second leg than we did in the first leg. We will do everything we can in Kiel to make up for this deficit. We have the quality and the possibilities. The decision of who will play the first division next season will be made in Kiel. “
“We are now at halftime, the score is 0-1. Nothing has to be decided yet. “
Ole Werner: “The first leg result is a minimal advantage and shouldn’t change our approach to the game. It will be important to do the last meter. We’ll have to defend as passionately as we did in the first leg. The point will be that we manage to create a good starting position for over 70 minutes. I believe that the outcome of the relegation will only be decided in the last 20 minutes. “
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