Lukas Kwasniok will always be able to say that he led FC Köln in the historic 100th top-flight Rhineland derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He will always be able to say that his team fought as hard as the occasion demanded, overcame myriad setbacks and never deserted the cause, or him.
Yet Kwasniok will also have to acknowledge that this was the end; that even a derby as intense as this and everything his team did right in it could not exist in a bubble separately from an increasingly fraught situation in Köln’s season. The writing had felt like it was on the wall for a while and when sporting director Thomas Kessler spoke after the game, it was sprayed in neon capitals. “It was,” Kessler acknowledged after a thrilling 3-3 draw, “a rollercoaster of emotions but ultimately, we have to say that the point isn’t enough today.” As soon as Kessler conceded that final point it wasn’t a case of if but when for Kwasniok.
