Players, staff, fans, indeed the whole city is eagerly anticipating the hit against FC Barcelona. Everything is set for perhaps the biggest match in the club’s history since the “match of the century” in 1960 in the final of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup against Real Madrid (3:7). Coach Oliver Glasner believes his eleven has a chance – if they show efficiency.
For the first time since the 4-1 defeat of Salzburg on 20 February 2020, the Waldstadion will be packed to the rafters with 48,000 fans internationally. The club could easily have sold a quarter of a million tickets for the match. When the floodlights shine on Thursday evening and the heart beats faster and faster as the kick-off draws nearer, the fans’ longing for that very special European Cup feeling in Frankfurt’s Stadtwald will finally be satisfied. The stands will be colourful – and deafeningly loud. There are no opera audiences in Frankfurt. At least not in the stadium. This much is certain: on Friday, employees will turn up in many companies in the Rhine-Main area suffering from sudden hoarseness. “We’re looking forward to this big game, it will definitely make for a wonderful Europa League evening,” Glasner exulted.
Atletico Madrid no role model for SGE coach
Now it is up to the coach and his eleven to ensure that the match against the seemingly overpowering FC Barcelona will be remembered for a long time, and not only from an atmospheric point of view. “With all due respect, but we don’t want to defend for 90 minutes on the last 30 metres like we saw in the Champions League on Tuesday,” said the coach in reference to Atletico Madrid’s performance at Manchester City (0:1). “Of course we need to have a very good day and be efficient. But we also showed in Sevilla that we are capable of creating five, six, seven top-class scoring chances,” Glasner recalls of the 2-1 win at Betis in the last 16.
However, Barcelona, who have regained their strength under Xavi, are a completely different matter. Eintracht will probably have even less possession and will have to be prepared to run and sprint a lot in order to close all gaps and pass routes. Especially as this time they will be up against even stronger individualists who – unlike Betis at the time – are currently on a run to boot. Apart from the frenetic support from the stands, all the signs seem to be pointing against the Hessians.
Rode: “A lot has to come together “
However, no one at Eintracht will be discouraged by this. “We won’t have six, seven or eight chances, but maybe only two, three or four, but with the necessary efficiency we can score goals,” Glasner spreads the necessary confidence. In order to hurt the Spaniards, Eintracht must be able to break free from the counter-pressing with quick passes behind the chains after winning the ball. Then quick-as-an-arrow players like Jesper Lindström or Filip Kostic could pose problems even for the highly decorated superstars of FC Barcelona. That sounds easy in theory, but it is incredibly difficult if the towering favourites are 100% focused and serious. There is probably only a real chance of reaching the semi-finals if the underdogs from the Main are underestimated and the football god wears a jersey with the eagle on the chest on two evenings – a vague hope.
“A lot of things have to come together for us to be unpleasant for Barcelona,” captain Sebastian Rode also knows, but emphasises: “I’m absolutely convinced that we’ll have one or two chances that we have to take with ice-cold efficiency.” This efficiency has been lacking recently, especially in the league, with Frankfurt failing to score in six of their eleven games in the second half of the season. Will the knot break against Barcelona of all teams? From a sober point of view, that’s not very likely. However, three years ago no one would have thought that the Hessians would reach the semi-finals of the Europa League.
Personnel-wise, Glasner has few worries
Personnel-wise, Glasner can draw almost from the full squad, only reserves Christopher Lenz (calf injury) and Diant Ramaj (meniscus surgery) are out. There will be no major changes to the first eleven. Martin Hinteregger, who served a yellow suspension against Fürth, is expected to replace Makoto Hasebe. Further changes are not likely – unless Glasner opts for a somewhat more defensive line-up.
