effzeh 101: First Place! First Place! Hey! Hey!

The English version does not quite do the chant justice, but the 1. FC Köln jumped to the top of the 2. Bundesliga pile Saturday and remained there through last weekend’s results. Technically, it’s a tie at the top, as 1. FC Union Berlin also has seven points and a plus-four goal-differential with six goals scored, but I’m claiming it for the FC, damnit, because this is not a Union site.

It was just under two years ago when the chants of “Spitzenreiter” resounded throughout the stadium to celebrate reaching the peak of the Bundesliga table. Being the first team to put claim on points on an early-season match day can often propel a club upward through the table. In this case, it was a Friday night, meaning the FC was up to seven points in the Blitztabelle while the rest of the league (excepting Freiburg, obviously) would play over the following two days. The FC would drop to fourth once Bayern, Berlin, and the unmentionables from Leipzig took their wins on Saturday and Sunday, but none of that would diminish the sheer joy of lustily bragging about riding on the point of the Bundesliga spire, regardless of how temporarily.

On Saturday, a Simon Terodde hat trick propelled the FC to the top of the 2. Bundesliga table, but unlike two years ago, no other club managed to supplant them with their own weekend results. In a season where many expect the club to win the league, it’s not quite as fun to brag about being the “Spitzenreiter” as it was on a Friday night in the first division, knowing full well that only the most-unlikely string of circumstances would allow the place to be held. All the same . . .

SPITZENREITER! SPITZENREITER! HEY! HEY!

Sunday brought a triumph of a different sort, when the FC was drawn as a host for a second-round match in the DFB Cup. If you’ve not been around the club for long, you might think, “Okay, cool, but why is everyone making such a big deal about it?”

Well, let me tell you!

It’s a big deal because since losing at home to MSV Duisburg in the 2010-11 Pokal, the 1. FC Köln have played at Müngersdorfer Stadium just once in 19 cup matches! Granted, the first round matches are always away for all Bundesliga squads and most of the 2. Bundesliga squads, but even removing those, the FC has been drawn as the home side just once from ten chances. It honestly got to feeling a bit ridiculous.

And what happened on that Wednesday night when the FC hosted Hoffenheim in the 2016-17 edition of the competition is all you need to know about why it’s crucial to get the home-pitch advantage in the tournament. The clubs were deadlocked at one goal apiece after 90 minutes, so the home crowd got to stay out a little later on a school night than initially planned. But early in the added time, Pawel Olkowski darted through defenders to get deep into the area to send a cross to Anthony Modeste. A few deflections later, Modeste drilled the ball emphatically into the net and immediately grabbed a Leonardo Bittencourt jersey in tribute to a teammate missing the match due to being in the hospital for a hamstring suffered the prior Friday night.

YES! THAT FRIDAY NIGHT! AGAINST FREIBURG!

Hence, in the span of five magical days, the Köln faithful celebrated a visit to the pinnacle of the Bundesliga and a thrilling advance to the third round of the federation’s cup competition.

So now, if you’re not too worn out from all the celebrating, let’s get back to our effzeh lessons, shall we?

On the next page: Müngersdorf, Spitzenreiter and Blitzabelle, all explained