Cracking start breeds confidence for Cologne under Lukas Kwasniok
New Cologne coach Lukas Kwasniok has endeared himself to the club’s passionate fan base in next to no time. With his fondness for wearing replica jerseys on the touchline and the seven points he has secured in the Billy Goats’ first two matches back in the Bundesliga, it is easy to see why.
While any claim that Cologne have discovered a secret sauce after three matches of the season may be a step too far, it is fair to say the Bundesliga new boys have hit the ground running on their return to the top flight.
A dogged 1-0 win at UEFA Conference League qualifiers Mainz on the opening matchday was impressive enough, yet the way they dismantled another of the Bundesliga’s European representatives, Freiburg, with a 4-1 win on Matchday 2 rightly sent fans delirious in their first home fixture back in the big time.
Watch: Highlights from Cologne's Matchday 2 win over Freiburg
It was the first time since the 2005/06 season that Cologne had picked up maximum points from their opening two games of a top-flight campaign, but they didn’t stop there. Trailing Wolfsburg deep into added time on Matchday 3, Wolves loanee Jakub Kamiński slid in Ragnar Ache’s knockdown to preserve their remarkable unbeaten start – and score the latest goal in Bundesliga history.
For context, it took the club 13 matches to surpass the seven-point mark in 2023/24 – a season which ended in relegation to the second tier.
So how have they done it?
Well, good old-fashioned graft has certainly had a role to play.
On average, the Billy Goats have covered 122 kilometres per game so far this season – only Augsburg and Bayern have run further as a team, while only Hoffenheim (123 km) covered more ground than Kwasniok’s charges (122 km) on Matchday 3.
It was a similar story on Matchday 2 as Cologne hit 124 kilometres – nearly six more than opponents Freiburg, themselves one of the hardest-working sides in the division last season under Julian Schuster.
According to summer signing Marius Bülter, those impressive figures can be explained, in part, by Cologne’s flexibility under Kwasniok, who switched to a 3-5-2 formation at the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday after plumping for a 4-2-3-1 system against Mainz and Freiburg.
“We cover a lot of ground and are constantly switching positions,” the 32-year-old explained after the Freiburg win. “Our hard work in training during lays the foundation to give our all in terms of fighting spirit and work ethic.”
No player has epitomises Cologne’s early-season confidence and steely determination like Bülter, whose two goals and two assists have been integral to their flying start. He thought he had made it three goals in as many games against Wolfsburg on Saturday, but his second-half header from Ísak Jóhannesson’s free-kick was ruled out for a foul by Joël Schmied.
Bülter was far from the only player to excel against Wolfsburg though.
Watch: How have Cologne started so well?
Jan Thielmann failed to add to his effort against Freiburg but covered every blade of grass in a tireless display, while Luca Waldschmidt opened his Bundesliga account for the season with a well-taken opener against his former employers. Saïd El Mala also impressed after coming off the bench, providing a superb assist for Jóhannesson’s goal to make it 2-2.
With a trip to RB Leipzig coming up on Matchday 4, things aren’t about to get any easier for Kwasniok, Bülter and Co., but the manner of their salvage operation against Wolfsburg bodes well for the tasks that lie ahead.
“Even after going 3-2 down [in second-half stoppage time], you could tell from our body language that we hadn’t given up,” said Bülter. “It speaks volumes for us as a team.”
Whatever happens at the Red Bull Arena this coming weekend, Cologne are not about to surrender their unbeaten run without a fight.
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