1. FC Köln has spent three decades turning Stuttgart into its most productive away ground among current Bundesliga clubs, even if that advantage no longer looks as solid as it once did. The numbers now stand at 14 wins, 12 draws and 23 losses, a record that still tells two different stories at once: a long spell of success, and a more recent slide.
The renewed interest comes because the next meeting again puts that history under a spotlight, with Stuttgart fresh from a 1:5 loss in Munich and Köln still living with what changed in September 2017. That was when Köln lost 1:2 in Stuttgart and, for the first time in more than 20 years, failed to leave with a Bundesliga result that fit the old pattern.
The sequence began in April 1998, when Toni Polster scored the equalizer in a 1:1 draw and set the tone for a run that would make Stuttgart feel unusually manageable for Köln. Christian Springer, Markus Kreuz and Miroslav Baranek then scored in a 3:0 win in spring 2001, and Köln followed that with two goalless draws in the 2001/02 and 2003/04 relegation seasons. Under Uwe Rapolder, the club won 3:2 on the second matchday after promotion in 2005, with Markus Feulner and Albert Streit scoring twice, before another away win arrived under Christoph Daum in 2008.
The pattern held for a while longer. Under Zvonimir Soldo, Köln won 2:0 in 2009 and 1:0 in 2010, then drew 2:2 in the 2011/12 relegation season. Under Peter Stöger, there were further wins by 2:0 in 2014/15 and 3:1 in 2015/16. By then, Stuttgart had become the place where Köln picked up points more often than anywhere else against a current Bundesliga opponent.
That is what makes the later decline matter. Köln’s league defeat in September 2017 ended the old away rhythm, and the only later positive result mentioned is the 2:0 win in the second round of the DFB-Pokal in 2021/22. Since that cup match, Köln has not won in Stuttgart, and it has not won in its last seven meetings with Stuttgart overall, home or away. The long record still belongs to Köln, but the direction of travel has changed, and the next trip to Stuttgart will test whether the club can turn that old favorable venue back into something useful again.
