“In our situation,” said Köln’s Faride Alidou, “you have to take every point.” There was a qualification coming. “Even if,” he said, “we’re not satisfied.” It was understandable. On another day the attacking midfielder, growing in status and confidence under new (ish) coach Timo Schultz, could have been the derby hero away at Borussia Mönchengladbach, twice putting his team in front with emphatic finishes after deliveries from his captain, Florian Kainz.
In the end, he wasn’t even close, with so much happening in what Kainz described as a “totally wild game.” Even someone as balanced as the captain struggled to find the words or, it seemed, the thoughts to frame it accurately. “We have to analyse this properly,” he said after the 3-3 draw. “But so soon after the game, it’s still difficult to say.”
This should have been Robin Hack’s game. Brought on as substitute for Manu Koné in the 70th minute with his team 2-1 down, his first touch, 47 seconds later, was a headed equaliser into the far corner from a Stefan Lainer cross. It was the first of two Hack goals in 132 seconds that turned the derby around. “It was awesome,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been as emotional celebrating.”
It was not, however, the full stop on a pulsating afternoon. That was provided by Damion Downs, the 19-year-old Köln substitute, who took his time to make an impact having been on the pitch for a whole four minutes before scoring, gleaning a valuable point for the struggling visitors with a precise finish into the far corner. Celebrated with similar abandon to Hack’s second, it was Downs’ maiden first-team goal, as well as the first time a Köln substitute had scored this season.
So in the end, despite Hack coming agonisingly close to completing what would have been a sensational hat-trick in stoppage time, there is an ellipsis where a full stop should be. Had they held on to the lead that their super sub gave them, Gladbach would sit 12 points clear of Köln and the relegation playoff spot, effectively ending any relegation concerns in this transitional season and pushing their big rivals further into peril. Instead, they still have the nightmare scenario in the back of their collective mind, just as Köln’s dreams of gathering momentum for their hoped for great escape will have to wait. For now, the playoff place and a second chance in May is as much as Effzeh can hope for.
There was an all-round feeling of not knowing what to feel, as nothing about this game really made sense. In two matches against Gladbach, Köln have scored six times having managed a meagre 13 goals in their other 23 Bundesliga games. It is not quite can we play you every week territory – the heart would surely not stand it – but it shows that what Effzeh believe to be their true selves has come out in these two incident packed games – under the guidance of two different coaches – against their historical foes.
The current incumbent is too circumspect to talk of turning points, but Schulz was encouraged. “You can gain self confidence in training, but also in games that weren’t quite as successful [as this one],” he said. “Despite being outplayed, we created three or four huge chances against Leverkusen last week. We built on that. We have potential.”
Though Alidou’s influence is growing, he will need help. Downs’ goal was vital but he has yet to play even 45 minutes of first-team football and his crucial cameo was far from expected. The return of Davie Selke, still the team’s top scorer after almost two months out injured, could be at least as important over the coming weeks.
For all their own gremlins, Gladbach might take a moment to peer over the divide and exhale with relief. Gerardo Seaone’s side could have been in big trouble after last summer’s exodus with Jonas Hofmann, Marcus Thuram and Lars Stindl among those who left. Few would have been surprised to see their goals-for column look similar to Köln’s. Yet, despite a tricky debut season for their biggest summer signing Tomas Cvancara, who was absent here, Gladbach have rattled in 45 goals, making them the highest scorers outside the top five with a plethora of players chipping in – in a way Köln could use that as a template. Alessane Pléa was missing on Saturday but Hack, given another chance at the top flight in his mid-20s after false starts with Hoffenheim and Arminia Bielefeld, stepped up while wide man Franck Honorat, arguably the team’s player of the season in his debut campaign, smashed in the first equaliser from his habitual spot out on the right.
They still have the chance to end the season well, with a postponed DfB Pokal quarter-final at Saarbrücken to play on Tuesday before a potential last-four trip to second-tier Kaiserslautern – and even a final against Leverkusen, the high rollers whose derbies are nowhere near as intense as the one they have just played. Köln, meanwhile, will aim to satisfy themselves with salvation and whatever is next, the aftershocks of this Saturday will reverberate for a while yet.
Talking points
• For the second time this season Leverkusen made light of travelling back from a Thursday night game in Azerbaijan, beating Wolfsburg – who had Moritz Jenz being sent off for two bookings before the half-hour – 2-0 on Sunday, restoring their 10-point lead at the summit. Their calm is extraordinary, as Lukas Hradecky underlined afterwards when suggesting that “Probably half of us don’t even know what the Bayern result was. Nobody is stressing about what’s happening in the other games.”
• Bayern had completed a very good week, after the Champions League swatting aside of Lazio with an 8-1 demolition of Mainz in which more records tumbled for Harry Kane. He became the first player to score four hat-tricks in a Bundesliga debut season. “He proves week after week that it was the right decision to bring him here,” said Thomas Tuchel.
• Good news from another Englishman too, with Jadon Sancho’s first Borussia Dortmund goal in 1,031 days proving to be their winner at Werder Bremen – despite a comeback from the home side prompted by Marcel Sabitzer’s red card on the stroke of half-time. It was a smart run and finish too, though an introspective Sancho told the club’s official channels he was disappointed with his performance, pledging to strive for the level he reached in his first spell at the club. The win preserved their hold on fourth place despite RB Leipzig’s 2-0 win over Darmstadt.
• No such worries for VfB Stuttgart, still six points clear of Dortmund after beating Union Berlin 2-0 at the end of a great week for the club. Sebastian Hoeness, linked with Bayern, signed a contract extension to 2027, and the increasing levels of confidence are such that the sporting director, Fabian Wohlgemuth, is speaking openly about how they might spend any Champions League windfall on keeping the team together. “We will do everything humanly possible to keep [top scorer Serhou Guirassy] with us,” he told Das Aktuelle Sportstudio, while also outlining hopes to hang on to Deniz Undav and goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, on loan from Brighton and Bayern respectively.
Bundesliga results
VfB Stuttgart 2-0 Union Berlin, Bayern Munich 8-1 Mainz, Leipzig 2-0 Darmstadt, Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-3 Köln, Augsburg 1-0 Heidenheim, Werder Bremen 1-2 Borussia Dortmund, Bochum 1-2 Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Wolfsburg
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 25 | 47 | 67 |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 25 | 44 | 57 |
| 3 | Stuttgart | 25 | 26 | 53 |
| 4 | Borussia Dortmund | 25 | 19 | 47 |
| 5 | RB Leipzig | 25 | 24 | 46 |
| 6 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 25 | 9 | 40 |
| 7 | Hoffenheim | 25 | -3 | 33 |
| 8 | Freiburg | 25 | -11 | 33 |
| 9 | Augsburg | 25 | -1 | 32 |
| 10 | Werder Bremen | 25 | -5 | 30 |
| 11 | Heidenheim | 25 | -9 | 28 |
| 12 | Borussia M'gladbach | 25 | -4 | 27 |
| 13 | Wolfsburg | 25 | -11 | 25 |
| 14 | Union Berlin | 25 | -18 | 25 |
| 15 | VfL Bochum | 25 | -22 | 25 |
| 16 | Cologne | 25 | -23 | 18 |
| 17 | Mainz | 25 | -26 | 16 |
| 18 | Darmstadt | 25 | -36 | 13 |
