BY OLIVER GRISS
Anyone who didn’t really know Michael Köllner (52) until Thursday evening will be a big fan of his at the latest. At the cinema premiere of “Unter Löwen” in the Mathäser, the man from the Upper Palatinate once again demonstrated his qualities as an entertainer and captivated the guests with his words, who stick with blue. “The film was moving and really cool – I was there too, even if you only saw me briefly,” said the lion coach with a smile: “I still suffer from the equalizing goal today.” The late equalizer in stoppage time was almost the early end of the fight for promotion in the third division.
The film director Julian Bogner had accompanied five lions in the 1-1 draw against Saarbrücken for a whole day (including the injured Marius Willsch and stadium announcer Sebastian Schäch) – a short documentary worth seeing, which was commissioned by the main sponsor Die Bayerische, was created . “I hope,” says Köllner with a smile, “that we will win the Palme d’Or in Cannes for this film – as the best documentary of the year.” The short film will be available on YouTube from Monday. It definitely whets the appetite for more.
Why not a promotion documentary 2023 soon? Köllner: “I’m open to such topics, also because there can’t be that many fans in our stadium because they don’t all fit in. This is how the connection between club and people can be made – that’s the best thing there is.”
Köllner also revealed on Thursday evening that he would like to be in the west curve – in a lion game: “When are you going to be in there? Then you have to be fired. Of course, you don’t want that either.” The audience laughed. And further: “And then there are fans – they hang out at the Grünspitz from early morning until morning. Then you think to yourself: you want to go along and have a good drink. Celebrate and suffer and fall down with a thunderstorm. That’s not possible now – but at some point they’ll say: ‘Look, there’s Köllner – he’s turned sixty down…’
Köllner believes that a film like this can bring people together incredibly – and that is also his wish for the new season, that one thing above all is relied on: great solidarity. So that the goals can be achieved. “We have to create an unconditional community that fights for success,” demands the lion tamer: “You win, you lose, sometimes the sun shines, sometimes it rains – but you can always rely on your family, your club.”
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