Eintracht players who had dreamed of a game like this for a long time; an opponent who embodies state of the art in international women’s football; A good backdrop with 16,100 spectators in the Arena am Stadtwald – it was set up for a special Champions League evening. And he kept what he promised. Because the Frankfurt underdog stood up to the big FC Barcelona with a lot of heart and will, but also sometimes playful finesse. Given this background, the 3-1 defeat was easy to get over after the opening win in the group phase at FC Rosengard. Apart from a phase of loss of control in the 17 minutes after the break, the strong performance is likely to inspire the SGE team in the coming weeks.
The defending champions from Catalonia started the game in a similar way to the evening temperatures: a little cold. As if they didn’t want to rush into anything. The resulting periods of possession gave the Eintracht women security. Because the audience also appreciated the duels they won, the Hessians seemed inspired by the atmosphere and game, played with a lot of commitment and passion, but also with a lot of strength. The SGE successfully kept the Spanish star ensemble at a distance from their own penalty area for the most part in the first half.
Liberation from the supposed grip
At least they didn’t allow any clear chances to score. Goalkeeper Stina Johannes had to grab a few times, but had no problems with the (distance) attempts from Aitana Bonmatí (7th), Caroline Graham Hansen (15th) and Mariona (29th). After about 20 minutes, the game seemed to take on the expected appearance: Barca combined with long passing relays around the penalty area against Frankfurt’s deep defending team.
But the defensive hostesses were able to free themselves from the supposed grip. And how! Nicole Anyomi tested FCB goalkeeper Sandra Panos for the first time with a courageous shot from a tight angle (41′). The resulting corner landed indirectly at the agile left-back Verena Hanshaw, whose cross flew so perfectly into Laura Freigang’s path that the attacker was able to head in from close range (43′). The cheers from the players on the pitch and on the bench were extremely enthusiastic – there was belief in a magical night with an unexpected happy ending.
German November cold seemed deceptive
How would the defending champions react to the threatened coup by the Hessian outsiders in the second half? The answer: in the style of a champion. After the Catalans appeared dangerously in front of the Eintracht goal in the 46th and 47th minutes, it must have become clear to everyone that the Frankfurters would have a lot of work to do. Another turn of the pointer later, the ball was in the goal: Salma had skillfully completed a brisk Barca attack. It seemed as if the world’s best women’s team could switch from slow to fast at will against the current fifth-place team in the Bundesliga.
SGE coach Arnautis’s hope that the German November cold could cost the Spaniards a few percent of their irresistible mix of pass security, determination and enthusiasm seemed extremely deceptive.
Alex Westhoff Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Peter Heß Published/Updated: Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4
If Aitana Bonmatí shot too centrally from the best position (52′), Mariona had already completely turned the game around shortly afterwards. After a corner, Johannes and Sophia Kleinherne hindered each other – 1:2 (59th). When Salma’s direct shot ended up in the net three minutes later (62′), it seemed like things were going to be tough for Eintracht. Especially since goalkeeper Johannes was only able to prevent an own goal from Kleinherne with difficulty (65th). But Eintracht didn’t allow themselves to be discouraged, showed themselves to be defensive, recovered a bit and almost scored through Geraldine Reuteler after a goalkeeper error (70th) and Lara Prasnikar’s shot (84th).
