FMany ingredients are needed for the right mix – and one in particular: energy. Djibril Sow said what many had seen with Eintracht’s thrilling 5-1 win over Leverkusen: “That was the key. It was the energy that we put on the pitch from the start.” Just a week ago, when Sow and colleagues embarrassed themselves deep in the west and deservedly lost 3-0 to the hard-fighting VfL Bochum, there was no sign of energy. So now the radical change.
Bayer showed Eintracht in phases. The 5:1, shot out by the goals of Daichi Kamada (45+5, 72nd minute), Randal Kolo Muani (58th), Jesper Lindström (65th) and Lucas Alario (86th) when Piero Hincapie conceded a goal (56th), was “well deserved”, as coach Oliver Glasner said after the best game in the Bundesliga so far.
The Austrian football coach was particularly impressed by the way his team presented themselves in their third competitive game within a week. “What impressed me was the handling of this mentally difficult game, even if the final result doesn’t suggest it,” said Glasner. “We miss three or four chances plus the penalty, go into the break 1-0 and after a set-piece it’s 1-1, whereupon the players increase their stroke rate and offensive power again.”
It was actually the case that Eintracht, also supported by the support of the 49,700 visitors, pulled themselves together against Leverkusen and finally showed a refreshing, inspiring performance again. “We attacked with depth and speed,” said Glasner in his analysis.
Sow as a courage giver
With speed against the supposed speed players from Bayer Cross. A stormy duo was responsible for the speed in the Eintracht team: Kolo Muani and Lindström. The supple Frenchman and the light-footed Dane repeatedly presented the Leverkusen defense with considerable problems with their dribbling, feints and finesse, which the highly praised but disappointing Bayer pros were rarely able to solve.
Eintracht driver Sow later said that he had spoken to teammate Kolo Muani in advance and asked him for patience. Because the Frenchman had remained goalless recently, the Swiss encouraged him. “You’ll score your goal. He played very well against Leverkusen. He has rewarded himself.”
Energy, dedication, commitment: These are things that are taken for granted, but are not always called upon. The strong winger Christopher Lenz, who also knew how to please as a preparer, mentioned in retrospect “the power that we can bring to the pitch if we all give 100 percent”.
In fact, unlike at VfL in Bochum’s Ruhrstadion, no one from the Eintracht ensemble let themselves hang. Lenz was impressed by the way in which there was a collectively significant increase in performance against Leverkusen. His assessment: “The way things went today, we are a top team. But we must not let up either.”
“Voting is getting better”
Randal Kolo Muani, 23 years young, is not one to slack off. The aggressive Frenchman, who came to Frankfurt from Nantes in the summer and has a five-year contract, also presented himself with self-reflection after his strong performance in all modesty in the catacombs of the arena. In the mixed zone he was asked if he was the match winner. His answer: “We are all match winners.
The team has always supported me, today I was able to give something back to them. We did really well together.” At Kolo Muani’s side was an interpreter from the team delegation, who translated Kolo Muani’s assessments of the 5:1. For example, this sequence from the flow of speech of the French, who is eager to share information. “The coordination among each other is getting better and better. We are becoming more and more of a unit – on and off the field.”
The Eintracht pros were in a good mood after the game against Leverkusen.
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Image: Reuters
When the furious home win against Bayer was perfect and Eintracht found themselves in fourth place for at least one day when looking at the updated table classification, there were many small and large winners. One of them was grateful that he was allowed to be actively involved, even if only for a short time: Marcel Wenig. The 18-year-old young professional, who switched from FC Bayern to Eintracht and most recently played the ball in the Hessen league team, later spoke of an “incredible feeling playing in front of our fans.
I’m unbelievably proud.” The midfielder, who was willing to learn, couldn’t do much wrong in his brief appearance – Wenig had been substituted on in the 87th minute. “The coach told me to have fun, enjoy the game and be safe, the rest will take care of itself.” The whole of Eintracht had fun in this tenth Bundesliga competition. Anything is possible with energy.
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