Rhine derby: Blessin makes Gladbach debut in Cologne with Wagner also under pressure
Kickoff at 3:30 p.m.: pointless, bottom-placed Gladbach visit Cologne under new coach Alexander Blessin. Cologne coach René Wagner is also under pressure.
Archive image · Photo: Raimond Spekking / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
1. FC Köln host Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Rhine derby on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. It is Alexander Blessin's first game in charge of Gladbach. He succeeds Eugen Polanski, who was sacked after a poor start; Gladbach also lost under interim coach Jan-Moritz Lichte, 4-3 to Mainz.
Both clubs are under pressure. Gladbach are bottom with no points from four games and have conceded 16 goals, the worst Bundesliga start in the club's history. Cologne have four points and lost 1-0 at Hamburg last time out. They are without injured strikers Thijs Dallinga and Ragnar Ache.
Blessin called the situation “precarious” but said of the derby: “It warms my heart.” Wagner said: “We want to win the game and make sure Gladbach still have zero points.”