UAnd again Oliver Glasner is required as a successful coach. The Frankfurt soccer coach put it this way after the 2-0 home win over Union Berlin in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup: He had won both games in Leverkusen with VfL Wolfsburg. “Maybe Oliver Glasner can give a bit of input so that the series breaks,” said the 48-year-old Austrian and smiled.
It’s a series of horrors that has plagued Eintracht, who play at Bayer 04 in the Bundesliga this Saturday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) for many years. 0: 2, 1: 3, 0: 4, 1: 6, 1: 4, 0: 3 and 0: 3 – for Frankfurt, who also lost 1: 4 in the second round cup game in January 2021, the Arena in Leverkusen stands for permanent and painful failure. The last Hessian sense of achievement (1-0, goalscorer Marco Russ) dates from December 2013. Two current Eintracht players were happy about the full haul of points: goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and Sebastian Rode, who was injured. Your trainer back then was called Armin Veh, who has long since retired.
From Frankfurt’s point of view, it is high time to correct the terrible record under the Bayer Cross. The timing just doesn’t seem right at all. Because Leverkusen, after major initial problems in the league, is at a high level, while Eintracht is at a low level. Coach Xabi Alonso’s side have won all of the last four games, including the one against Bayern Munich (2-1) that cost coach Julian Nagelsmann his job in Munich. In the Europa League, Leverkusen was also successful three times recently.
“Now that’s the yardstick”
The presentable performance of the competitor, who is only one point behind sixth-placed Frankfurt in the first division table, also impressed Sebastian Rode. “Leverkusen have a good coach, an excellent team and are in excellent shape,” said the Eintracht captain in a precise summary, whose team has recently lost a lot of ground in terms of the top places in its core Bundesliga business with only three points from five matches .
Fourth place in the Champions League is now six points away. And behind Leverkusen, Mainz (like Bayer 40 points) and Wolfsburg (39) are putting pressure on Frankfurt. Suddenly the Europa League winner has a lot to lose in the fight for international places with eight games to go.
Close your eyes and through – that is now Rode’s motto. “It’s brutally difficult for us in Leverkusen. But we want to hide everything from the past,” said the midfielder, setting the course four days before the special challenge for the Hessians in Leverkusen. Tailwind should give them the qualification for the cup semi-finals, it is the sixth time in this century that Eintracht is fighting for a place in the final, only Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have managed to do so more often during this period. Glasner has reached the last four for the first time in Germany.
“A trophy is there to be won. We want to go the whole way,” said Trapp. Are the Frankfurters now collectively concentrating on winning the DFB Cup? In the pre-season, Eintracht spared part of their regular staff in league operations in order to then achieve maximum success internationally. This calculation worked out with the triumph in the Europa League. However, priorities were only set and rethinked when the European Cup places in the Bundesliga were a long way off, Glasner emphasized on Tuesday. Today, on the other hand, there is “no reason whatsoever for the Frankfurt team to concentrate on just one competition”.
The coming games will show whether the 2-0 win over the Berliners, which resulted from an excellent first half with two goals by Randal Kolo Muani, was the liberation Eintracht hoped for. The unity of the team, the common will to succeed and the biliousness shown were reminiscent of the old harmony. “That’s what we can play. We managed to bring this quality to the pitch,” said sporting director Markus Krösche. “That’s the yardstick now,” said Rode and confidently looked ahead. “A victory like that calms everything around. Also in the team.”
