Sometimes it seemed like training on an open, international stage, following 90 minutes of almost always the same choreography: run up, carry the ball deep into the opponent’s half, pass, pass, pass, create a chance to score. Only when it came to a goal, and that often happened, were the Eintracht Frankfurt players unable to follow the script.
Too late, too early, too imprecise, far off, just off – ultimately it was almost a footballing art to win the game against 1. FC Slovácko just 1-0 with a goal from Lara Prašnikar (24th). Played well, but aimed poorly, one could say, which will ultimately only have statistical value.
Now to the Waldstadion
The SBU women easily fulfilled the task of overcoming the first hurdle for the desired qualification for the Champions League group stage. There is still a long way to go to ensure that a slip of paper labeled “Eintracht Frankfurt” is drawn when the four premier class groups are drawn.
It was only the semi-finals of the mini-tournament, with the winner advancing to another play-off round in October. The players and coach Niko Arnautis didn’t want to spend much more time on Wednesday evening with the match against the Czechs, who barely even managed to cross the middle line. Of course, everyone emphasized in unison that from now on one could no longer afford such a wasteful use of goal chances.
Captain Tanja Pawollek described the “goosebump moments” hearing the Champions League anthem in front of her own Frankfurt audience. 3000 spectators came to the stadium at Brentanobad. The anthem will be heard again this Saturday, in front of more visitors and a few kilometers further south, in the Waldstadion.
“We’ve wanted it for a long time”
In the final against Juventus Turin (kick-off 1 p.m., live broadcast on hr television), Frankfurt women’s football is facing its first major European Cup highlight in six years. Torino defeated WFC Okzhetpes from Kazakhstan 6-0 in the semifinals. “Juve is also one of the really big names in women’s football. Playing against such teams – that’s what we’ve wanted for a long time and now we have it,” said goal scorer Prašnikar with an expectant smile.
What needs to be done to go further than last year when the mini-tournament final against Ajax ended in Amsterdam? There is no question that the Hessians will have to improve significantly against the top team that has mostly dominated the Italian league since it was founded in 2017. Eleven World Cup participants alone are in the squad of the Champions League-experienced Turin women, but due to the home advantage they are the favorites of Eintracht.
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After all, Eintracht was able to get used to something in the first competitive game of the season under competitive conditions: a lot of ball possession, a lot of passes, you had to stay focused because the match was never decided due to the tight score. With Pia-Sophie Wolter (VfL Wolfsburg) and substitutes Lisanne Gräwe (Bayer Leverkusen) and Nadine Riesen (FC Zurich), three newcomers also made their debut in the SGE shirt. So now the acid test and maturity test at the same time against Juventus. “We,” says Pawollek, “are not afraid, but really want to play.”
