Fortuna Cologne: Breaks in the regional league - players criticized!

Fortuna Cologne: Breaks in the regional league - players criticized!

Köln, Deutschland - Fortuna Cologne finished the season in the Regionalliga West on May 28, 2025 in a disappointing sixth place. After the team started the season promising and was even in second place at the winter break, problems arose in the second half of the season that significantly impaired performance. President Hanns-Jörg Westendorf expressed his criticism after the last game, especially with regard to the Hohkeppel game, whereby he only emphasized the game against Alemannia Aachen as positive. The problem of injury proved to be a central factor for the relapse of the team.

Several key players failed in the crucial phase of the second half of the season, which the team weakened enormously. These included Barne Pernot, Stipe Batarilo, Hendrik Mittelstädt, Seymour Fünger, Max Fischer and Dominik Ernst. Westendorf also referred to the suboptimal space situation and inadequate winter preparation. Talks with the city of Cologne about alternative training opportunities are now in progress to improve the prerequisites for the next season.

injury problem and tactical adjustments

The increasing list of injured compulsion coach Matthias Mink to make tactical adjustments to compensate for the failures. These changes also contributed to the team's inconsistency. The young and thinned team showed their potential in phases, but was unable to convince in the crucial moments. Overall, the season was sobering, despite the continued readiness and passion of the players.

An example of the challenges was the latest game against Sportfreunde Lotte, which was played on matchday 25. Fortuna Cologne scored a goal through Hendrik Mittelstädt early in the 2nd minute, but the team could not expand the lead and missed several more opportunities. A controversial penalty for Lotte, which was transformed by Captain Elezi in the 48th minute, ensured a setback after Fortuna lost control and structure in the game. The game ended with a tie of 1-1, which increased the gap to leaders Duisburg to ten points.

A look into the future

With the end of the season, Fortuna Cologne is now looking into the future. President Westendorf has already expressed his concerns about the attitude of some players who were not evaluated as sufficient. In order to be able to better counter the challenges in the next season, it is essential to improve the training conditions and optimize squad planning. Injuries in performance football, as are also discussed in the Regensburg study, are a crucial aspect that must be taken into account in future preparations. Further details on injury prevention can be found in the study that is available on the website of the German Football Association.