After this memorable evening, the two Frankfurt national players were all gushing. It was “magical,” said Laura Freigang. As she walked into the half-time break she thought: “What is happening here? Is someone pinching me?” The impressive and expressive exuberance was set in motion by the opening goal against FC Barcelona in the 42nd minute. “An emotional outburst from all of us,” said Sophia Kleinherne about the moments when ten Eintracht field players hugged each other on barely more than three square meters of grass, they were so close together.
The atmosphere in the arena was also dense, with the 16,100 spectators shouting after the goal as if there were 40,000. “The twelfth woman on the pitch” were the fans, said Kleinherne, who, as a strong central defender, played a major role in the success of the Frankfurt women’s football holiday. Freigang’s header goal paved the way for the thrill that took over the essentially unequal duel between the Hessian Bundesliga fifth-place team and the Catalan world team.
“I’ve never felt anything like that before. “It was electric. A moment like that goes through your whole body, it’s like it’s in slow motion,” said the 25-year-old, and long after the final whistle, she still seemed as detached in the belly of the arena as she did when she scored after Verena Hanshaw’s perfect cross. It was almost forgotten that the video cube ended up showing a 3-1 home defeat against Barca.
“The fight is open”
Arguably the best team in the world had fulfilled their duty on the Main, but encountered far more resistance against Eintracht than their opponents in the Spanish League and Champions League recently. Eintracht defended passionately but also cleverly with Kleinherne as a fixed point. Wide awake and physically strong, the SGE came to promising transition situations with Freigang as a central figure in the offensive. In a “terrific first half,” as coach Niko Arnautis said.
Especially for Kleinherne (with the team since 2017) and Freigang (since 2018), the evening against some of the world’s best players was probably the highlight of their years at 1. FFC and Eintracht Frankfurt. They were and are part of the development from a club that was stuck in Bundesliga mediocrity in terms of sport and economy to an address that has a good chance of reaching the quarter-finals. The group games against Benfica Lisbon (also three points so far) on December 13th and 21st are of crucial importance. “The fight for second place in the group is open. Our goal is to advance in this group,” said Freigang.
Like an lese majeste
What was important for Barcelona’s success in Frankfurt was their reaction to the 0-1 half-time deficit. The defending champions seemed to have taken it as an lese majeste – similar to the Champions League final in the spring, when the Catalans even naturally turned VfL Wolfsburg’s 2-0 half-time lead into a 3-2 victory. In any case, after the restart on the Main there was a lesson (quarter of an hour) that will be remembered by the Frankfurt team just as much as the eruptive celebration after the opening goal. Within 15 minutes, Salma (48th and 62nd) and Mariona (59th) scored three goals; if there had been further opportunities created with ease and rigour, there could have been even more in this impressive period of pressure.
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Barca, there was no doubt, were serious. They failed to “build a wall,” said Freigang with a smile. The SGE women were well aware that “they will really turn up the heat if you send them into halftime with a score of 0-1,” said Kleinherne. And so it remained clear for Eintracht: Barcelona are irritable, but not yet beatable. 70 percent ball possession and 829 passes played (351 on the SGE side) also made it clear statistically who was the dominant force in the game.
The Frankfurters were able to effortlessly free themselves from the clutches and create chances for Geraldine Reuteler (70th) and Lara Prasnikar (84th) to score, but the favorites’ victory was never in danger. Coach Arnautis remained true to himself by saying that he almost didn’t make any substitutions in the big games – the difference in quality between regular players and substitutes is too big.
Only Lisanne Gräwe came into the game fresh, but the two attackers Carlotta Wamser and Shekiera Martinez, who are known for their freshness and dynamism in short appearances, did not. The Barcelona experience will not be overshadowed by everyday tasks for a while. The cup game postponed to the new year followed by an international break makes it possible: the SGE now has a break in compulsory games until December 10th.
