Fortuna Düsseldorf’s strong start to the season in the 2nd Bundesliga has surprised former coach Friedhelm Funkel, given the recent past. Ahead of the Rhine derby this Saturday (1:00 p.m./Sky) against 1. FC Cologne, the 70-year-old is very impressed with his former team.
“I said that Fortuna would be in the top third, but due to the departure of the three key players Engelhardt, Tzolis and Tanaka, I did not expect them to get off to such a good start,” Funkel told Sport1 about the league leaders – and praised the coach: “A huge compliment to Daniel Thioune, who not only had to replace these three players, but also got this incomprehensible failure in the relegation round out of their heads.”
Fortuna missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga in the spring because, despite a 3-0 win in the first leg away to Bochum, they slipped up badly in the second leg of the relegation play-off and still lost on penalties. “Nobody knew how that could have happened. I didn’t expect Daniel to get the team back under control so quickly. For me, that’s the most positive surprise of the young season,” said Funkel.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240921-930-238914/1
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