Fortuna Düsseldorf’s good start to the season in the 2nd Bundesliga has really surprised former coach Friedhelm Funkel in retrospect. Before Saturday’s Rhine derby (13.00/Sky) against 1. FC Köln, the 70-year-old is very impressed with his former team.
“I said Fortuna would play in the top three, but with the departure of the three top players Engelhardt, Tzolis and Tanaka, I didn’t expect them to come out of the starting blocks so well,” Funkel told Sport1 about the league leaders – and praised the coach: “A big compliment to Daniel Thioune, who not only had to replace these three players, but also had to forget about this incomprehensible failure in relegation.”
Fortuna missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga in the spring because, despite winning the first leg 3-0 away at Bochum, they made serious mistakes in the relegation match and still lost on penalties. “Nobody knows how this happened. I didn’t expect Daniel to get the team back under control so quickly. For me, this is the most positive surprise of the young season,” said Funkel.
