FC Köln derby build-up – Herrlich sounds warning

The Werkself have not lost in Cologne since 2011, making the fifteen kilometre trip worth the effort most of the time. Moreover, Herrlich's team are unbeaten in their last ten away games. And hopefully the run will continue on Sunday. In addition to the sporting attraction on the banks of the Rhine, the second derby of the season against FC Köln for the club in fourth place is also crucial in terms of picking up vital points in the race for a European qualification spot with eight games to go in the current campaign. It's a completely different story for bottom-of-the-table Köln who are in danger of dropping into the second tier as they they are eight points away from safety at the moment.

'Köln CAN MAKE AMENDS WITH Derby win'

This season's return match comes against a wholly different backdrop from last term: In May 2017 it was the Werkself who were fighting relegation and FC Köln were in the race to qualify for Europe. Thanks to  the combination of an energetic performance and unforgettable support from the fans on the penultimate matchday, the Black and Reds secured top-flight status by coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with goals from Stefan Kießling and Joel Pohjanpalo – a great  relief at the end of the least successful season in 14 years at Leverkusen, which also saw the local rivals return to the European stage.

Ahead of the 62nd (and possibly the last for a while) meeting in the Bundesliga, that is reason enough for Heiko Herrlich not to underestimate Köln despite them being 27 points behind in the league. "Derbys are always different –  and there's always the chance to make amends with the fans," warned the Bayer 04 coach before adding: "They have quality otherwise they would not have been playing in the Europa League this season." Herrlich believes FC Köln showed that in the Monday game on matchday 26 despite losing 3-1 at Werder Bremen: "I've seen a lot of Köln games this season. They didn't play badly yesterday but individual errors cost them the chance to get three points against Bremen." The 46-year-old is taking nothing for granted given that many of the unfortunate results are linked up with their current position in the table. From a purely footballing point of view, he believes FC Köln can compete on equal terms. Watching yesterday's game, the boss did not get the feeling that either Köln or Bremen looked like they should be in the bottom third of the table.

Live stream of afternoon training

The morning session on Tuesday saw Heiko Herrlich work with the whole squad except for Jonathan Tah, Kevin Volland and Charles Aranguiz. The trio were working on their own in the gym at the BayArena. The whole squad should be on the training ground in the afternoon. Bayer 04 TV will broadcast the session live from 16.15 CET on bayer04.de and Facebook.

The Werkself will hold open training sessions on Wednesday and Thursday (both starting at 10.30 CET) this week before closed sessions on Friday and Saturday for the final preparations ahead of the derby.