1. FC Köln lose fourth experienced centre-back to injury: “We’re cursed.” | OneFootball

Already without Timo Hübers, Joël Schmied, and Luca Kilian, 1. FC Köln have lost another important actor in the central defensive corps. Veteran Dominique Heintz found himself unable to continue playing early on in Saturday’s Bundesliga fixture against Werder Bremen. Heintz’s day was limited to just 12 minutes. A Sunday morning MRI scan revealed a serious thigh injury that will likely keep Heintz out for the duration of the 2025 calendar year. 

Köln head coach Lukas Kwasniok opted to field a back-three consisting of Heintz, Cenk Özkacar, and wingback Sebastian Sebulonsen on Saturday. After Rav van den Berg replaced Heintz on a like-for-like substitution early on, Kwasniok re-formatted to a back-four after bringing on Kristoffer Lund to serve as the left fullback at the half. Neither arrangement worked particularly well in a match Köln were lucky to draw 1-1.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Kwasniok himself thought the improvised back four bracketed by Lund and wide-man Jan Thielmann with van den Berg and Sebulonsen performed well enough. The 44-year-old nevertheless expressed frustration with his current personnel situation at the back and noted that he would endeavor to come up with a better solution ahead of next week’s Bundesliga match-up against St. Pauli.

“It feels like all our centre-backs are out, it’s like we’re cursed,” Kwasniok said. “But I thought Seb [Sebulonsen] did well in his new position, first in the back three, then in the back four. I really liked van den Berg and Sebulonsen, with Jan Thielmann extremely active. Lund was also fully there, apart from [a poor] back pass.”

“We’re once again put in this position of having to find solutions for the problem once again,” Kwasniok still added with an air of frustration. “It happens. Unfortunately, that’s part of football.”

GGFN | Peter Weis