At 1. FC Köln, things are under pressure: “It needs to be questioned”

Once again 1. FC Köln was up to their necks before the game against Borussia Dortmund – and once again the people of Domstadt put on a strong performance in this game of all places. That begged the question: why always only then?

Point gain or point loss? Cologne coach Markus Gisdol was undecided.

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Even in the run-up to the game, manager Horst Heldt had avoided a clear commitment to coach Markus Gisdol beyond the BVB game. When his team fell behind in the third minute and barely got a foot in the door in the following minutes, Gisdol and FC apparently had their backs to the wall.

But as already several times this season, the people of Domstadt pulled their heads out of the loop in precisely this situation. “The team’s reaction simply showed what they were made of”, Gisdol praised his team at “Sky”. “It often happens that you lose your head, but we did well.” Cologne gradually fought their way into the game and ultimately did not turn it undeservedly, only a few minutes were missing to the surprising victory over the Champions League quarter-finalists.

Gisdol feels “a bit of discomfort”

“If I only saw 2-2 as the result, then I would say it’s okay,” said Gisdol afterwards. “Because of the way the game played, there is a bit of discomfort. With a little more luck we would have won the game. But if you look at it rationally, we made an important point with a good performance.”

But why did Cologne only bring this good performance back when the ghost of relegation had knocked loudly again after the successes of the competition in the previous week? “It really has to be questioned whether that is tickled out more in moments like this,” Gisdol said. “It is human that you are then a few percent more concentrated and have the ultimate consequence in the situations.”

After the international break, the next tough piece is waiting

But it was not only clear to him that this same concentration and consistency was needed more often. “What we showed today, we have to show in every game,” demanded winger Marius Wolf. And Gisdol saw it as “my job and the players, to tease out that for every game. We have to go to 100 percent to score. We don’t always succeed.” After the international break, however, the next tough chunk is waiting: Cologne then has to play away in Wolfsburg.

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