Europa League winner Eintracht Frankfurt gained a lot of courage for their debut in the Champions League with a brilliant 4-0 (2-0) against cup winner RB Leipzig.
Four days before the premiere appearance in the premier class against Sporting Lisbon, coach Oliver Glasner's team played exciting offensive football in front of 49,700 spectators and improved their position in the Bundesliga table with eight points to ninth place. Daichi Kamada in the 16th minute, Sebastian Rode (22nd), Tuta (67th) and Rafael Borré (84th / penalty) scored for the Hessians on Saturday evening.
Leipzig, who played their first Champions League group game against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, offered a poor performance for long stretches of the fast-paced game. With five points, the Saxons have already lost sight of the leading group in eleventh place.
RB coach Domenico Tedesco started the big rotation during the week after the easy entry into the second round of the cup and sent his supposedly best starting eleven into the race with the return of six regular players. However, Tedesco had to make a change after just ten minutes because Dani Olmo was injured and couldn't continue. Emil Forsberg came in for the Spaniard.
Both teams exchanged offensive blows at the beginning. Eintracht also celebrated an early goal from Kamada, but the Japanese was ruled offside when Randal Kolo Muani passed the ball. At 1-0 after a good quarter of an hour, everything went well when the midfielder headed in a header from Kolo Muani from close range and into the net.
Spurred on by the lead, Frankfurt turned up more and more and rewarded themselves with the second goal. Rode scored with a left-footed shot that was deflected decisively by RB defender Willi Orban. Kolo Muani, who came from FC Nantes in the summer, hung up again. Bad luck for Rode: After a good half hour, the Eintracht captain had to leave the field injured. Eric Ebimbe, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, made his Bundesliga debut for him.
That didn't change anything about the course of the game. Although Tedesco repeatedly pushed his team on the flank with gestures, the Saxons remained harmless in attack. The storm duo Timo Werner and Christopher Nkunku didn't get a chance at all. Eintracht emanated much more danger, even if there were no further chances until the break.
After the change, the guests came out of the dressing room with Dominik Szoboszlai and more momentum. Nkunku had the first chance to connect, but the Frenchman aimed too high from ten meters. But then it was Eintracht's turn again. At first, Mario Götze failed to stand free because of the well-reacting RB goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, but then Tuta and Borré created a happy atmosphere with their goals.
