A 5-0 thrashing at Dortmund could have been worse, even with a dubious VAR decision, and there are already fears of a situation spinning out of control
Jörg Schmadtke rushed out to the Sky truck in the TV compound to pore over every possible angle – and to check his eyes weren’t deceiving him. By that point, the Köln sporting director had already been on the Signal Iduna Park pitch, shoulder to shoulder with the coach, Peter Stöger, protesting to the referee, Patrick Ittrich, over the award by VAR of Borussia Dortmund’s second goal.
Before any more fingers start pointing at Effzee about an anarchic end to a chaotic week, we should add that this was a reasonable moment for both men to approach Ittrich. Sokratis Papastathopoulos’s belatedly given strike, which made it 2-0, was the last act of the first half before the players made their way off and Köln’s officials made the most of the moment to get their point across.
Related: ‘For Cologne fans it was the biggest night of our lives. Thanks for having us’
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