The team coached by Lucien Favre was eager to improve their image on the European stage despite having a poor start to the Ligue 1 season. The Aiglons almost did not play their first match against Cologne tonight after barely qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League Conference at the expense of Maccabi Tel Aviv (a 1-0 loss in the first leg, followed by a 2-0 victory in the return leg), which meant that the Aiglons had to play Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The violent altercations between supporters of the two clubs that took place in the stands of the Allianz Riviera just a few minutes before kickoff was to blame for the incident. We are appalled that 18 people were hurt, one of whom was a Parisian fan who was familiar with the Auteuil stand and who may have had connections with the ultras in Cologne during the “total emergency.” Due to his excessive alcohol consumption, he lost his balance and fell five meters between the two levels of the stands. According to AFP, his prognosis for his vital signs is engaged. Several accounts agree that the Germans made the initial offensive.
Because of the severity of the disturbances, the start of the match was put back one hour so that the stadium and its surrounding area could be brought back under control.
Halftime came around for both teams.
When the game eventually started, the players who were coached by Steffen Baumgart got off to a far better start than the Nicois did. They created a lot of chances, particularly through the extremely influential play of Thielmann. It was he who gave Tigges the opening dish for his team’s competition (19th). After that, the Germans were able to maintain their lead by preventing the OGC from obtaining balls.
After leaving the locker room, we could see that the Aiglons were coming out with improved intentions, and the Allianz Riviera was able to sense it as well and pushed behind their players as a result. The threat steadily inched him closer and closer to Schwabe’s goals until Schwabe finally caved in and allowed a penalty kick to be awarded to Laborde for a hand in the area, which Andy Delort then scored on (62nd).
The finish of the game was very rhythmic, and both teams might be disappointed that they did not capitalize on their final opportunities. Both Schwabe and Bulka, who were between the posts for their respective teams, put up a lot of effort to keep the score even. There will be no further action taken, and Nice and Cologne will finish in a tie (1-1). On the other hand, I’m not entirely certain that we should call a halt to the pre-match activities there…
The next opportunity for Nice to win or lose in Ligue 1 comes this coming Sunday at 3:00 p.m. when they go to Ajaccio. In the same week, the Bundesliga match between FC Cologne and Union Berlin will take place. The Europa League Conference will welcome the two clubs once more on the following Thursday.
