It was a breathless climax to the 82nd Rhine derby between Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Köln, on and off the pitch. Following Granit Xhaka’s stoppage-time winner, Gladbach’s players saluted the Borussia–Park crowd, and were quickly joined on the pitch by a group of figures in matching white boiler suits. Nothing too unusual, you might think, over Karneval weekend in this part of the world.
Unfortunately, it was not planned choreography. The “30 white-clad anarchists”, as Bild called them, were unauthorised pitch invaders who had scaled the barriers out of the visitors’ section, and appeared to be moving towards the home fans. All manner of chaos ensued, with riot police moving in – one officer was injured. Video shot by fans also appeared to show some home supporters attacking the invaders – and stewards stepping aside to allow them to do so.
If Gladbach can expect some comeback from these ugly events, Köln know they’re in trouble. Last season’s second division champions were already under probation from the Deutscher Fussball–Bund (DFB) after incidents involving pyrotechnics in matches against Duisburg and Eintracht Frankfurt last year. As a result, a heavy fine or even stadium closure are among the possible punishments for this latest, and perhaps most serious flashpoint.
In response, Köln released a strongly worded statement pledging an investigation and condemning the behaviour of fans who they said had shamed the club. A second statement on Sunday announced their intention to remove the Boyz group’s status as an official fan club and cancel its members’ season tickets.
Something like this had always seemed like it was coming, despite the efforts of Köln’s likeable coach Peter Stöger to calm tensions in the lead-up to the game. Before the first derby of the season at RheinEnergie Stadion in mid-September, a group of Gladbach fans had attacked a factory where Köln supporters were putting the finishing touches to their choreography for the game, before being disturbed by police. A police security detail was even allocated to Köln’s billy goat mascot, Hennes, following the attack.
It’s an intense rivalry. If Bayer Leverkusen should come into the equation in geographical terms, they don’t in reality. Leverkusen’s match with Wolfsburg on Saturday may have been a goal-laden spectacular (see below in Talking Points) but was viewed by many German fans as the derby of the plastic clubs – the two factory teams who are exempt from the 50+1 ownership model.
Gladbach’s meetings with Köln are rich in history, and abound with famous names, too. Berti Vogts is Gladbach’s record-holder for playing in the most Rhine derbies (25), while goalkeeper Harald ‘Toni’ Schumacher, perhaps best known by the wider world in connection with Patrick Battiston, made more derby appearances than anybody else for Köln (27).
That autumn meeting had been the first derby in almost two-and-a-half years, following Köln’s two-season spell in the second tier, and the events around it had clearly not been forgotten. When the Effzeh fans did unfurl their tifo back in September, it was of an eagle clutching the severed head of a foal (the Gladbach mascot) in its claw. The Borussia-Park fans responded in kind on Saturday, with their banner in club black and green depicting a stern-looking man spanking a billy goat.
If this all shows that little has changed off the pitch while Köln have been away, the season so far has demonstrated that it’s pretty much as you were on it, too. The sole aim of Stöger’s side is to stay up, courtesy of a dogged, no-frills defensive approach, while Lucien Favre’s team are reaching for a return to the Champions League, with Saturday’s win moving them back up to third.
Incidentally, Gladbach last achieved a top four finish in 2011-12 – the campaign in which Köln were relegated. That season, under the charge of Stale Solbakken, descended into an utter shambles despite 18 league goals for local hero Lukas Podolski. While the derby created plenty of anticipation, Karneval week reminded plenty of fans that this was the point at which it all went south for Köln in their last top-flight campaign.
Interacting with the fans during the week is important – Stöger gave an address at the Karnevalssitzung (an annual, Karneval curtain-raising party held by the club) on Tuesday dressed as a pirate, while Podolski could often be seen at the front of the club’s float chucking lollipops down to revellers during the parade. The class of 11/12 took it too far, though.
Defender Miso Brecko was arrested for drink-driving after one party, and Kevin Pezzoni had his nose broken during an altercation at another. It gave the impression that Solbakken had lost control of his squad – he was fired with a few weeks of the season remaining and the ship already sinking.
Avoiding a repeat of those scenes is paramount as Köln aim to secure their place in the top flight for another season. If Xhaka’s joyously-celebrated goal meant it was, all in all, a deflating week for Effzeh in which to celebrate the club’s 67th birthday, both team and club need to move on from the more unsavoury moments of the last few days quickly.
Talking points
• Though they’re hardly two peas in a pod, you wouldn’t have blamed Bas Dost for feeling a bit twitchy when Wolfsburg signed André Schürrle. Anybody who picked him as the odd man out in Dieter Hecking’s Armada might have to think again, though. Having scored twice in nine matches before the winter break, the Dutchman’s tally is now seven in four since the resumption after his four goals at the Bay Arena on Saturday afternoon. The crucial goal was a winner in the final minute of stoppage time, after Bayer Leverkusen had recovered from a 3-0 interval deficit to level at 4-4 in an incredible match. Drop Dost if you dare.
• Bayern limbered up for their Tuesday night return to Champions League action against Shakhtar Donetsk by pulverising Hamburg 8-0 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday afternoon. It was Der Dinosaurier’s heaviest Bundesliga defeat – though they’re no strangers to a thrashing at the Allianz, having been whacked 9-2 there some 23 months ago. It might not have taught us anything new, but the sizzling nick of Arjen Robben in particular (14 Bundesliga goals now this season) suggests that Bayern are aching to make up for last season’s Champions League disappointments.
• Marco Reus celebrated signing his new contract with Borussia Dortmund – the news story of the week – with a fine performance as BVB racked up a second successive win on Friday night. They beat Mainz 4-2, with Reus scoring one and creating another for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with a sublime outside-of-the-foot pass. With that said, the ashen, what-could-have-been looks on the faces of the visiting players reminded us that Signal Iduna Park is not regarded as a fortress anymore. Mainz boss Kasper Hjulmand looks on shaky ground once again – Bild claims that against Eintracht Frankfurt next Saturday, “only a win will save him”. Dortmund face bottom side Stuttgart and another under-pressure coach, Huub Stevens, next on Friday.
• How they needed that. Paderborn ended their winless run at 10 with victory at Hannover in the weekend’s final game. Alban Meha’s direct free-kicks assumed a legend of their own in the team’s promotion campaign but have been lesser spotted in the top flight; Sunday’s dipper over Ron-Robert Zieler won the game and proved how crucial the Albanian midfielder can still be in the run-in. With their three next fixtures against Bayern at home, Gladbach away and then Leverkusen at home, stopping the rot couldn’t have come at a better time for André Breitenreiter and company; their next three opponents are Bayern (h), Gladbach (a) and Leverkusen (h). Tayfun Korkut’s beaten side, only four points above the relegation play-off spot after this loss, could easily get dragged into the scrap at the bottom.
