Cologne fans respond to relegation by engulfing their stadium in black smoke

[DerMannschaft]

Cologne fans respond to relegation by engulfing their stadium in black smoke

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By Brooks Peck | Dirty Tackle ​

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Cologne fans like some lung damage with their relegation. (Reuters)

Cologne's final match of the season started with a nice send-off for Arsenal new boy Lu-Lu-Lu Lukas Podolski. Then they lost 4-1 to Bayern Munich, sealing their relegation and everything turned black. After Thomas Muller scored Bayern's fourth in the 85th minute, Cologne fans started setting off black smoke bombs that prompted the referee to end the match a little early so the players could run for cover. A disappointed Podolski was the last man off. The smoke got thicker and despite the heavy presence of riot police with their itchy pepper spray trigger fingers, the inevitable relegation pitch invasion played out...

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Pepper spray defies gravity. (Getty)

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The invaders win. (Getty)​

 

[DerMannschaft]

Cologne relegated, Hertha avoids Bundesliga drop

May 05, 2012 -- 12:00 PM

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Cologne's players react after an own goal giving Munich a 2-0 lead during the German first division Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Cologne and Bayern Munich in Cologne, Saturday, May 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Cologne was relegated on the final day of the Bundesliga season on Saturday following a 4-1 home defeat to Bayern Munich, while Hertha Berlin clinched the playoff place with a 3-1 win over 10-man Hoffenheim.

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<article about="/sports/2012/05/cologne-relegated-hertha-avoids-bundesliga-drop/575851" typeof="sioc:Item foaf<img src=" images="" smilies="" biggrin.gif"="" border="0" alt="" title="Big Grin" smilieid="3" class="inlineimg">Hertha started the day behind Cologne and needed a win and a favor from Bayern to avoid the drop. Hertha midfielder Aenis Ben-Hatira scored either side of the dismissal of Hoffenheim winger Ryan Babel, but Hoffenheim defender Marvin Compper ensured a nervous finish in Berlin when he scored with five minutes remaining.

With Hoffenheim pushing forward for the equalizer that would have relegated Hertha, Raffael scored on a counterattack in injury time. Hertha now faces a two-leg playoff against the third-place side from the second tier to decide which team plays in the Bundesliga next season. The first game against Duesseldorf, Paderborn or St. Pauli is on Thursday, with the second leg on May 15.

Borussia Dortmund, already assured of its second straight title, celebrated with a 4-0 win over Freiburg to stretch its record unbeaten run to 28 games within a season and set a new Bundesliga record of 81 points. The champion also equaled Bayern's record of 25 wins in a season.

Hannover clinched the last remaining Europa League place with a 2-1 win over already-relegated Kaiserslautern and was the only Bundesliga team unbeaten at home this season. League topscorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twice to take his season tally to 29 goals and help Schalke to a 3-2 win at Werder Bremen.

Stuttgart overcame a 2-0 deficit to Wolfsburg with three goals in six minutes to win 3-2, Bayer Leverkusen won 4-1 at Nuremberg, Borussia Moenchengladbach enjoyed a 3-0 win at Mainz, and Augsburg ended its first Bundesliga season with a 1-0 win over Hamburger SV. Jos Luhukay, who led Augsburg to its first promotion last season, announced his resignation after the game. Augsburg finished 14th in the 18-team division with 38 points.

Cologne is retiring Lukas Podolski's No. 10 shirt as long as the striker remains active, but the Germany international was unable to help his side against his former club in his last game before a move to Arsenal. "It's one of the most bitter defeats of my career," Podolski said. "We just have to digest it."

Bayern fielded its likely lineup for the Champions League final, with Jupp Heynckes leaving out Holger Badstuber, Luiz Gustavo and David Alaba — all suspended against Chelsea. Three Cologne defenders marked Mario Gomez, but Thomas Mueller was completely free when Arjen Robben found him to score in the 34th minute.

Cologne captain Geromel scored an own-goal in the 52nd and Robben curled a shot beyond former Bayern goalkeeper Michael Rensing two minutes later. Podolski set up Milivoje Novakovic for a glimmer of hope in the 63rd, but Mueller rounded off the scoring with a classy backheel in the 85th to leave Cologne fans desperate for a late Hoffenheim equalizer in Berlin.

Ben-Hatira had given Berlin the lead in the 14th with a scrappy free kick, before Babel was sent off for two yellow cards in succession late in the half. Replays suggested Levan Kobiashvili — making his 336th appearance to tie Ze Roberto's record for a foreign player in the Bundesliga — went down under minimal contact from the Dutchman.

Ben-Hatira looked to have finally settled the match when he scored again in the 78th, but Hoffenheim pushed everyone forward — including goalkeeper Tom Starke — after Compper pulled one back.
Raffael finally sealed the win when he ran the length of the pitch and shot into an empty net.

Unbeaten in 28 games, Dortmund will start next season in pursuit of Hamburg's 36-match unbeaten record from January 1982 to January 1983. Both Jakub Blaszczykowski and Robert Lewandowski scored twice in the first half as Dortmund ended Freiburg's 10-game unbeaten run with an impressive display of attacking football.

Lewandowski became the first player to score 22 goals in a season for Dortmund since Manfred Burgsmueller in 1981-82. In Stuttgart, Wolfsburg striker Patrick Helmes made his case to be included in Germany's Euro 2012 squad with his 10th goal in as many games, before Marco Russ made it 2-0.

Stuttgart staged a remarkable comeback started by Cacau — another striker hoping to go to Poland and Ukraine — in the 73rd, with Maza and Ibrahima Traore also scoring. Marco Reus marked his last game for Moenchengladbach by scoring either side of the interval in Mainz. The Dortmund-bound winger clinched his 17th and 18th goals of the season and then set up Igor de Camargo to make it 3-0.</article>

 

[DerMannschaft]

Podolski admits Koln deserved to go down

The Arsenal-bound forward insists his team were simply not good enough to stay in the German top-flight, as he pinpointed their deteriorating form in recent months as a factor

May 5, 2012 11:50:00 PM

By Livio Caferoglu

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Lukas Podolski has made no bones about Koln's relegation from the Bundesliga after admitting that his side's drop from the top tier was fully justified.

A run of eight matches without victory, including six defeats, coupled with the dismissal of Stale Solbakken at the helm meant a return to the second division was almost inevitable.

Saturday's loss to Bayern Munich confirmed their demise, and Podolski, who is set to swap Koln for Arsenal during the summer, claims recent results did not reflect that of a team capable of competing in the Bundesliga.

"We were not relegated today. It has been borne from what has happened in recent weeks and months," admitted Podolski.

"With so many defeats and goals conceded in the end, we do not deserve to remain in the Bundesliga, it must be said, unfortunately."