Dhe hopes of the Eintracht women for a promising start to the new Bundesliga season have been fulfilled. The Frankfurt soccer team parted ways with FC Bayern Munich 0-0, but showed an appealing performance that offered many positive approaches, apart from the lack of callousness in the exploitation of opportunities.
47 days after the final of the European Championship, seven German internationals, who had worked together in England including the defeat in the final, met as opponents in the starting line-ups: Sophia Kleinherne, Laura Freigang and Sara Doorsoun started for Eintracht.
Before kick-off there are flowers
On the Munich side, a quartet began with Giulia Gwinn, Lea Schüller, Lina Magull and Klara Bühl, who also played their part in the DFB jersey, so that the tournament turned out to be a football summer fairy tale; Markus Krösche, the sports director of Eintracht, gave the national players flowers as a token of appreciation before the kick-off.
A total of 23,200 spectators watched the game. With the number of visitors, the expectations of Frankfurt came true, who set an example with the move from the Brentanobad to the arena in the city forest and set a new attendance record, which the league hopes will give further impetus in its efforts to attract more public interest. The previous record, set in the 2013/2014 round in Wolfsburg, was 12,464 fans.
In terms of sport, the game went largely to Eintracht’s taste: they were able to put pressure on the Bayern defense via the wings in the person of Kleinherne and Verena Hanshaw. When Bayern attacked, Magull, Gwinn and Georgia Stanway had their feet in the game, but Frankfurt managed to push them into areas where they couldn’t do anything.
Stina Johannes, who had come from Japan and replaced Merle Frohms as number one, who had moved to Wolfsburg, was able to excel at the beginning of the second period: After a mishap by Sjoeke Nüsken, Magull had the opportunity to take the lead in Munich with a clear shot, but Eintracht Goalkeeper parried (48th).
Freigang, who fell on her shoulder in a duel shortly before the break, stayed on the field as a striker until the 72nd minute, although she could only move her left arm to a limited extent. She repeatedly initiated pressing situations. Lara Prasnikar failed with a flick to goalkeeper Maria-Luisa Grohs (69th). Munich’s best player was also able to save with one hand against Geraldine Reuteler (77′), so that the long-awaited victory for Eintracht ultimately came to nothing.
23,200 – never before have so many spectators seen a game in the women’s Bundesliga.
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Image: dpa
“It was super nice. It’s a setting that women’s football wants. We felt that at the European Championships, but we wanted to take that into everyday life in the league. It’s great that so many people came to support us. You soak it up on the field, it’s great fun and we hope it will continue like this for the next games,” said Bavaria’s national player Giulia Gwinn on the TV channel Eurosport.
Frankfurt’s Geraldine Reuteler was also enthusiastic about the scenery. “It’s a great, great atmosphere here. It was really, really fun to play football here,” said the striker and praised her team for the fighting game: “I’m super proud of the team. We showed a great game.” And coach Niko Arnautis enthused: “We played a really great game from the first second. The team delivered a mega performance today. We can still live well with the point, we build on it.”
