Hinteregger is absent from the Europa League final

Dhe hopes that something would happen with a miraculous healing were not great anyway. Recently, Sebastian Rode, Eintracht captain, had publicly fueled speculation that there was a surprising possibility that Martin Hinteregger would be on the pitch in Seville on Wednesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Europa League and on RTL).

On this Monday, however, Hinteregger himself rebuffed the hopes. “I had never had this type of injury before. That’s why I noticed right away on the pitch, that’s it. The diagnosis was actually only the confirmation of the feeling. It doesn’t matter whether it lasts now, three, four or six weeks, because after that it’s vacation anyway,” said the Austrian football professional in an interview published on the club’s website. The defender, who had to be replaced with a thigh injury in the second leg against West Ham United (1-0) in the semi-final, will therefore miss the important Europa League final against Glasgow Rangers.

Hinteregger added: “I think they will be able to handle it in my position. Because we have really excellent defenders. If everyone is in shape, it makes no difference whether Makoto Hasebe, Tuta or I play in the back.” Coach Oliver Glasner is experienced enough anyway not to long for anything ahead of a game whose outcome could influence the club’s career for years to come , which was difficult to calculate for a long time and is now final. Since July 1, 2021, his first day in the Frankfurt service, the football teacher has followed a cautious course when it comes to line-ups.

He only used previously ailing professionals again if they had started training several days earlier and were fully resilient. The plans with Hinteregger, who happily mingled with the visitors to the market at the Konstablerwache in the city center on Thursday and posted selfies with fans, go in a different direction: He is to support Glasner in preparing for the final as a temporary assistant .

In the back line, Almamy Touré, Tuta and Evan Ndicka will be first choice. How convincingly the trio, who are not particularly familiar with each other in this formation, finally solved the tasks contributes to Glasner’s optimism. He expects that hard work will come to Eintracht. Glasgow “quite deservedly eliminated” Leipzig and Dortmund, said the 47-year-old, adding that he had “never seen RB in such trouble as in the first half with Rangers”.

Most recently, he gave his team two days off to replenish their reserves: “The players have recovered and are in good condition.” That Eintracht has a goalkeeper in Kevin Trapp who hasn’t made a mistake in months and who does a great job Exuding security is one of the plus points that Glasner promises in a tight duel that will make the difference in favor of Eintracht.

In sixth position, he has three options with Rode, Djibril Sow and Kristijan Jakic, whereby the Croatian will probably stay on the bench and move up as soon as Rode, whose knees have been operated on several times, always reacts with pain, loses power.

Filip Kostic (left) and Ansgar Knauff (right) are on the wings. While the Serb has been one of the main elements of the high-altitude flight since 2018 with his running strength, precision with crosses and coolness in the end, the loan from Dortmund grew with his tasks in the second half of the season and added a thrilling touch to the offensive variety that had previously been seen from this side so not existed.

Rafael Borré and Daichi Kamada are in the lead and seeded in the variable tens behind; while it is still open whether the ailing Jesper Lindstrøm can start or whether Jens Peter Hauge, who has recently acted less hectic than in his impetuous phases, moves back into the starting XI.

It is clear that Eintracht will play completely in white. “We just have to play in white. We rocked Europe in white,” said board spokesman Axel Hellmann. With the triumph at Camp Nou over FC Barcelona in Spain, the Frankfurters had a reputation as one white beast acquired. And the white beast’s hunger for success should now finally be satisfied in Seville.