Baumgart expects another "snail race" in the relegation battle
FC Köln coach Steffen Baumgart expects a tight relegation battle in the Bundesliga until the end of the season. "The snail race will continue," said the coach of the bottom-placed team ahead of the game at promoted SV Darmstadt 98 on Friday (20:30/DAZN). In view of the fact that Cologne only have six points and Darmstadt nine after twelve games, Baumgart explained: "At some point, you're going to play against each other. And someone has to get a point. Either Darmstadt will get points or we will. We won't be able to stop that."
The important thing for him is that "none of the six or seven teams in the basement are gone. It may well be that they all get a point, but if you don't get a three-pointer, you won't get anywhere." When asked whether even fewer than 30 points will be enough to secure relegation this time, the coach said: "I'm not going to start calculating whether 30 points will be enough. It's possible that fewer points will be enough, but that's speculation."
The decisive factor for the few points of the basement clubs is "that the top clubs hardly ever let up against the bottom clubs. There's a big gap in the league." However, the gap is not widening throughout the league. "The gap is more between the Champions League participants and all the other clubs," said the 51-year-old: "Gladbach, Bremen and Augsburg are currently playing and scoring more successfully. But the gap to us is not that big."
Despite being at the bottom of the Bundesliga with only six points, 1st FC Cologne will face a tough challenge against promoted side SV Darmstadt 98. Baumgart's team will be keen to secure a point to move closer to Darmstadt, who currently have nine points.
Regardless of their current position in the Bundesliga standings, Soccer team 1st FC Cologne needs to focus on securing as many points as possible in their upcoming matches, including the Bundesliga clash against SV Darmstadt 98.
Source: www.dpa.com
