No Kalajdzic, no goals: Most of the discussion in the already hectic 0-0 draw between 1. FC Köln and VfB Stuttgart was about someone who wasn’t there. Because Stuttgart’s goalscorer Sasa Kalajdzic was not in the squad. The Austrian, who was already linked with FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the summer, is apparently facing a move to English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. That’s why, at his own request, he was absent from the final training session of the Swabian Bundesliga team on Saturday.
Three days after reaching the group stage of the Conference League, FC are still unbeaten in the league but have held on to a draw for the third straight season. VfB also drew for the third time on matchday 4, but lost the other game and are therefore still without a win. On Sunday, the Swabians were closer to success, but failed again and again due to the outstanding Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe. And on the red card against Luca Pfeiffer (56th) – of all things, replacing Kalajdzic. Because he was so upset about it, among other things, VfB coach Pellegrino Matarazzo also saw yellow and red (72nd).
“We have come to the conclusion that there is no point in taking him. Because he doesn’t feel free enough in his head to perform on the pitch today,” Matarazzo said at Dazn about the absence of his goalscorer. The ex-Darmstadt player Pfeiffer got his first start, but his debut ended prematurely after Timo Hübers kicked his ankle. In the fourth game, the Cologne team benefited for the third time from an opponent’s dismissal, but despite being outnumbered by more than half an hour, they didn’t manage to win their second win of the season.
Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart made five changes to his starting XI from a 3-0 midweek win in the play-off second leg at Fehérvár FC. “These are not changes in that sense, but in the sense of load control,” said the coach. Nevertheless, the guests seemed much fresher at the beginning and had three decent chances in the first five minutes through Wataru Endo after 22 seconds, Silas (4th) and Konstantinos Mavropanos (5th). The Cologne team also had to put up with two injuries early on. Mathias Olesen had to leave the field after 17 minutes, Jeff Chabot played on until the 52nd despite an injury sustained after four minutes with a bandage on his head, which was taped over and over again. Another injury on his left foot finally stopped him.
Cologne’s savior before the break was Schwäbe, who made two outstanding saves against Silas (22nd/38th). FC also had two huge chances to take the lead, but captain Jonas Hector, after a free-kick was laid by Ondrej Duda, went completely unmarked from ten meters in the middle of the goal (37′) and Mavropanos knocked Chabot’s turban header off the line (45′). 2).
