The final day of our European weekend saw us cross the border back into Germany for the Monday night Bundesliga 2 game between FC Cologne and 1860 Munich.
We caught the train from Groningen to Utrecht, where we were to change to catch our train to Cologne, but upon arrival the train had been cancelled! This meant a train to Arnhem, then a coach to Duisburg and finally another train to Cologne. This put another 90 minutes on our journey which wasn't bad in the circumstances.
Cologne is one of my favourite German cities with it's imposing cathedral and vast array of Kolsch (the local brew) beer houses.
The ground had been redeveloped for the 2006 World Cup and as redevelopments go, I was really impressed with the stadium. The capacity of the ground is 50,000 and the stands are built upwards so you are really on top of the action. The noise was fantastic and it would have been interesting to hear what it was like if Cologne actually scored a goal. It was an impressive attendance for a second level game, on a Monday night, that was live on TV.
The game ended goalless but it was the homesters who came closest to breaking the deadlock. Anthony Ujah had a penalty saved by ex-Crystal Palace 'keeper Gabor Kiraly in the first half and Daniel Halfar hit the crossbar in the second period. It was a good game overall and i'm guessing Munich would be far happier with the point, however the result displaced Cologne from top spot in the table.
I met up with another couple of Evertonian hoppers and we all headed into town for a few late Kolsch's before catching an early morning flight back to the UK. Another fine weekend of European groundhopping at an end!!
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| FC Koln's mascot - Hennes the Billy Goat |
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