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Eintracht Frankfurt is working on the dream of the Champions League

MIn the middle of winter, Eintracht committed its first access for the coming summer. The choice fell on Christopher Lenz. 26 years old, left-back, a real Berliner. But none of the Hertha, which this Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and Sky) in the Bundesliga in Frankfurt, but one of the iron, from FC Union. Lenz, with a three-year contract up to and including June 30, 2024, is leaving the Köpenick stadium at the Alte Försterei of his own free will.

“I see Eintracht as the next step in my development and am really looking forward to my time in Frankfurt,” Lenz was quoted as saying in a statement from his future employer on Thursday. “In the Alte Försterei I was allowed to play in front of a great audience. If you’ve seen the games of Eintracht in the Europa League, then you know how emotional it is here. The atmosphere and the fans are among the best in the world. “

In terms of sport, Eintracht is preparing to mess up the Bundesliga establishment. The team of coach Adi Hütter is already sixth in the table. If the winning streak of the last seven unbeaten games in a row continues – including five wins – even more is possible for Eintracht. “We put ourselves in this situation and recently drew a certain amount of attention to ourselves because of the performance. It’s a nice compliment for us and the work of the team. The team is currently in balance, ”said Hütter in a video conference on Thursday. Since last Saturday, since the furious 5: 1 at Arminia Bielefeld, also the highest win of the season, there has even been talk of the Champions League. Currently, Eintracht is two points away from fourth place, which entitles them to play in the premier class.

But that is a long way off. The present is Hertha BSC, and once again Hütter has to deal with a newly hired coaching colleague on the other side during his time in Frankfurt. Martin Schmidt, Uwe Rösler, Bo Svensson – and now Pal Dardai. In Mainz, in Düsseldorf, again in Mainz and now in Berlin, they relied on the supposed panacea to change coaches immediately before a game against Eintracht. In contrast, the Eintracht coach has always been called Hütter for the past two and a half years. After Christian Streich from Freiburg and Florian Kohfeldt from Bremen, the Austrian is now third in the ranking of the longest-serving Bundesliga coaches.

Together with sports director Fredi Bobic and sports director Bruno Huebner, who turned 60 on Thursday, Hütter has campaigned for the Lenz transfer. “He is an interesting German player who is variable and has quality and passion. The overall package for him was perfect, ”said the Frankfurt soccer teacher. On Saturday, when the once again ailing Hertha from Berlin comes to the Frankfurt Arena, Hütter will have to deal with Dardai, who has returned.

The Hungarian is now 44 years old, and he can still grow with a huge pound: With 286 Bundesliga appearances, Dardai is the record player in Berlin, a club icon. “Pal lives Hertha BSC,” said the new managing director Carsten Schmidt, “and we are absolutely convinced that his clear style will give the team the necessary new impetus.” Hütter expects that too. “I expect a team that will try to be tactically disciplined and a little more compact. They are likely to focus on defensive and shift play and try to take advantage of our mistakes, ”he said.

The experienced Eintracht coach therefore assumes that it will be “not an easy ride” against the table fourteenth. But there is no place for self-doubts about one’s own performance. Hutter’s team has been in the flow for a month and a half. “We have developed a certain level of self-confidence that might not have been there a few weeks ago. At the moment we’re playing freely and showing great football. “

One of the building blocks of this “great” football is Luka Jovic, a returnee as well as Hertha coach Dardai. Eintracht coach Hütter announced that his team would soon be playing with two strikers, “maybe even against Hertha. Luka is a world class player, ”he praised. “He’s doing our game well and is getting better every day.” So far, the Serb has scored three goals in three games. “I have a really good feeling,” said Hütter before seeing Dardai again. “My boys are all in a good mood.”

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