Eintracht Frankfurt wants to leave the massive referee frustration from the Dortmund game behind. After all, the Europa League winner can expect a discipline that suited him particularly well in the highly turbulent year of 2022: a final.
Six and a half months after Seville's triumphant title win, head coach Oliver Glasner's team has the chance on November 1 (9 p.m. / DAZN) to overwinter in the Champions League with a win at Sporting Lisbon. "We can do finals!" assured Kevin Trapp.
Götze: "It's about everything"
The constellation is complicated, from winning the group to being last in the group, anything is still possible in the brutally competitive preliminary round season D. However, the arithmetic games will not be too tricky to stay in the premier class: If Eintracht wins at Sporting, the Champions League anthem will sound again in Frankfurt in 2023. In the event of a draw or a defeat, the Europa League will continue at most - or not at all if Marseille defeats Tottenham at the same time. "Everything is at stake. Sporting is a very good team and we have our third game in six days. But you could see how we performed," said Mario Götze.
The return to the Europa League as a consolation prize? Head coach Oliver Glasner doesn't even want to think about such games before the groundbreaking guest appearance in Portugal. "Please ask the question in Lisbon. Now there is only one goal and that is to win in Lisbon. Anything is possible, from first to fourth place. We need a win to progress," said the Austrian.
Unity is on the move
After the furious spring with victories in Barcelona and London, the Europa League is Frankfurt's favorite competition, but if they progress, duels with Real Madrid, Manchester City or Liverpool FC would be possible in February and March. And the chances of that are more than decent, because Eintracht is on the move – much better than in the clear 3-0 defeat in the first leg, in which the Hessians say they “learned the hard way”. The unfortunate 2-1 draw against Dortmund was overshadowed by many referee and video evidence debates, but provided the next proof of how dynamic and offensively strong this team formed by Glasner is currently on the road.
Randal Kolo Muani is up front, behind them Götze, Daichi Kamada and Jesper Lindström have been in top form for weeks. Eintracht has been hard to beat lately, as evidenced by the 2-1 win over Marseille and a brilliant 5-1 win over Leverkusen. "I see us absolutely on the right track," said Glasner.
"We have something to make up for"
He has no worries that his professionals, who are working at high speed, will slow down shortly before the World Cup. "We play like this for four weeks and will play like this for the remaining two weeks. I have no concerns at all." That's how sports director Markus Krösche sees it. "We keep our heads up and go into the final sprint with a broad chest," said the official.
For the Hessians, spending the winter in Europe would not only be important from a sporting point of view, but also financially. In the summer of 2023 there is a risk of free transfers from Kamada or defense chief Evan Ndicka, with whom it has not been possible to extend despite the best efforts. Players like Kolo Muani and Lindstrom should also be hot deals in Europe if they continue to show such performances. The debutant definitely wants to correct the 0:3 from the first leg. Captain Sebastian Rode said: "We have something to make up for from the first game."
Expected Lineups:
Sporting Lisbon: Adan - Goncalo Inacio, Coates, Reis - Porro, Ugarte, Morita, Nuno Santos - Edwards, Trincao - Paulinho
Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp - Tuta, Jakic, Ndicka - Dina Ebimbe, Kamada, Sow, Pellegrini - Lindström, Götze - Kolo Muani
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
