Eintracht Frankfurt before a one-off home game against West Ham

FFor Eintracht, Bundesliga business this season has become a competition that no longer arouses any particular emotions. Due to the defeat in Leverkusen, Frankfurt slipped to eleventh place. You are in no man’s land of the table just before the end of the round. Now the focus is finally on international business.

Twelve hours after the final whistle of the game in the Rhineland, which was lost 2-0, Axel Hellmann is looking ahead to this Thursday, when the second meeting with West Ham United in the semi-finals of the Europa League takes place (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Europa League and at RTL). Last week in London, the Hessians prevailed 2-1, giving them high hopes of being able to reach a European final for the first time in 42 years. Hellmann said he was expecting a “unique home game”.

Unlike three years ago, when Eintracht failed in the semi-finals at eventual champions Chelsea because they lost on penalties at Stamford Bridge, “now the decision is made on its own ground,” said Hellmann. This results in special expectations for him. The stadium will be sold out with 50,500 visitors. 3000 tickets were sold to the opponent’s supporters. At least twice the number of West Ham supporters will be in the city overall.

Hellmann said that United supporters will initially gather in the center of the city, around the Römer and at the Paulskirche. Then they wanted to march to the stadium as a group, analogous to the behavior of the Frankfurt fans away from home. He expects that this time a particularly large number of football fans will gather around Deutsche Bank Park, even if they weren’t able to purchase a ticket. All attempts to gain illegal access to the arena should be prevented with strict admission checks.

Many prominent spectators expected

Hellmann encouraged the audience to use public transport to get there, because the security situation around the stadium will have a “massive impact” on car traffic in and around the city forest. Guests making their way from the city center should reckon with a journey time of ninety minutes and bring plenty of time for the controls at the gates to the site. “The situation is manageable,” said Hellmann, “and the senses are sharpened.” The police are also “extremely well prepared”. The lawyer attached importance to the fact that the English can generally adapt to Frankfurt hospitality: “We will not throw anyone out with a West Ham scarf.” The zero-tolerance policy in London looked different.

Hellmann said more celebrity guests will be there live than ever before; among others, he named UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, who is leading his association’s delegation. A lunch is planned in advance with the Slovenian guest and his entourage, at which current developments in football will be discussed, with Hellmann certainly presenting his criticism of the Champions League reform.