The prospect of coming to terms with the gossip caused Steffen Baumgart physical pain.
"That will hurt," admitted the 1. FC Köln coach after the 0: 5 (0: 1) at TSG Hoffenheim: "Because we got our asses full."
In fact, the bankruptcy of the feared opponent brought the FC back down to earth.
The first defeat after five unbeaten games in the Bundesliga hit the so far strong Rhinelander to the core.
Before the upcoming derby against the top team from Bayer Leverkusen, the Cologne team must first fight.
“That is not ticked off quickly.
Because these are the games you can learn a lot from.
We have to draw the right conclusions from this, "demanded Baumgart, who was emphatically combative:" Nevertheless, we have to go our way.
This is a situation that we have to deal with.
It's a learning process for me too. "
Baumgart and his protégés had previously learned the hard way.
Ihlas Bebou (31st and 49th minutes), Christoph Baumgartner (51st), Dennis Geiger (74th) and Stefan Posch (87th) shot down the guests in front of 14,309 spectators - once again you have to say.
The Hoffenheim team have not lost eleven games in a row against FC and have won all of the past seven games.
In order to protect his professionals and not stir up unrest in the cathedral city before the derby, Baumgart took the defeat on his (slide) cap.
“It's not that the boys didn't want to,” said the coach, who had received almost nothing but praise since taking up the job at the start of the season: “We as a coaching team may have to react faster to their back three.
This is also an experience for me. "
The fact that the Cologne captains Jonas Hector, Dejan Ljubicic and Ellyes Skhiri and thus three important pillars were missing was not an explanation for Baumgart: “We'll leave that straight away.
That would be just an excuse, "said the 49-year-old:" We said that we have a good and broad squad. "
Timo Horn didn't even look for excuses.
“They showed us - and we have to accept that,” said the goalkeeper: “We got on the sack.” Substitute captain Rafael Czichos made no secret of the fact that the defeat was “definitely deserved”, even at the height.
Despite the bankruptcy, the professionals are still a long way from using up their credit with the fans.
After the final whistle, the team was cheered and cheered by the supporters who had traveled with them.
Incidentally, Baumgart worked as a greenkeeper at the time and repaired the maltreated areas of the lawn.
The trainer has to do repairs in the coming days anyway - even if they will hurt.
The image of TSG, on the other hand, looked completely different.
The basses thundered unmistakably from the cabin until the press conference after the game;
For head coach Sebastian Hoeneß, the highest Bundesliga victory under his direction came at just the right time - after a few weak games this season (including a 1: 3 at VfB Stuttgart) and before the game at FC Bayern Munich next Saturday.
"We are happy," said the nephew of long-time Bayern maker Uli Hoeneß.
“Of course we are happy.
It is a mixture of joy, affirmation and relief that we have shown a reaction. "