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Eintracht Frankfurt should bring more intensity to their game – then they could even win against Bayer Leverkusen.
It’s one of those things with the damn statistics. You can bend and turn them, sometimes even interpret them, until it somehow fits. In football, too, there are all kinds of numbers for all kinds of situations. Sometimes they say something, sometimes they don’t. When it comes to the so-called standards, well, there is no room for interpretation at Eintracht Frankfurt: The Hessians have been waiting for a goal for 256 corners.
The last goal came from November 2022, Ansgar Knauff was so free in Augsburg, 2-1 away win. There has never been such a dry spell in the Bundesliga. And it’s basically absurd, it seems almost impossible that after so many attempts the ball doesn’t somehow get tangled in the opponent’s net. Eintracht provides proof to the contrary.
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On Sunday she will make a new attempt, of course, but perhaps she doesn’t need a standard to get on the road to victory. Maybe the opponent can just help. Okay, he’s none other than the newly crowned German champion from Leverkusen, but, hey, what does that mean? Nothing. On the contrary. Because they still exist today, the feared opponents or favorite opponents.
In this case, both apply to both. Eintracht Frankfurt, for example, could – regardless of the personnel constellation – save themselves the business trip to Leverkusen and send the points by post, as Paul Breitner wanted to do before the guest games at Betzenberg in Kaiserslautern. Stamp on and off.
There was little to gain for Leverkusen in Frankfurt
Under the Bayer Cross, Eintracht mostly only suffered a beating. The reverse is also true, not to the same extent, but similar. In Frankfurt there was often nothing to gain for the Werkself; since 2018 they have always left with zero points, the results: 1:5, 2:5, 1:2, 0:3, 1:2. Eintracht often set off real fireworks, and successful coach Xabi Alonso also remembers his first Bundesliga away game with horror: 1:5 in Frankfurt.
In goal, then and now, was Lukas Hradecky, the funny Finn who moved to Leverkusen after Eintracht’s 2018 DFB Cup victory. And since then in the Waldstadion I’ve only had my hat. “In the last five years we haven’t gotten anything from my old club.” And on Sunday?
Good omen? In October 2022, Leverkusen suffered a 5-1 defeat in Frankfurt. © IMAGO/Jan Huebner
Bavarian in the Rome sandwich
Eintracht therefore sees a great opportunity to almost certainly secure participation in the European Cup in the home game. To do that they would have to beat Bayer 04. As is well known, no one has managed this all season, neither on the national nor international stage. 46 competitive games without defeat. That’s incredible. Eintracht’s confidence in being first is based not only on the good home series, but also on the fact that Alonso’s team is caught in the sandwich between the two Europe League semi-finals against AS Roma. It is obvious that the focus is not on the Bundesliga, which Leverkusen dominated anyway and won the early championship. In Frankfurt they say to themselves: If not now, then when?
In order to pull off a surprise, Eintracht would have to get a different intensity into their game. The protagonists partly glossed over the appearance in Munich, especially in the second half, which was no longer so rosy, and put their energy into a completely unnecessary lament about a 911 penalty that Robin Koch was stupidly responsible for. A lot went wrong in the assessment.
Eintracht Frankfurt is looking for experienced leaders
Overall, Eintracht in Munich showed too little heart and courage, too little adrenaline, emotion and power. When things are going, this team, especially driven by frenetic fans at home, can get carried away with powerful and unbridled performances. But if there is resistance to overcome, if the opponent gains the upper hand or is stronger, there is hardly anyone there to stand up, lead the way and lead the team back on track. This is clearly recognized and should be corrected in the new season.
We are looking for experienced leaders, especially in central midfield, who stand by their man, who know how things are going and don’t give up when things get difficult. Such types of leaders are not easy to find, and certainly not cheap, especially since the sports management also wants to make sure not to bring too many players from different cultures or too many from just one culture into the squad.
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Eintracht Frankfurt: Europe with 40 points?
And despite this rather difficult season and the choppy return series, Eintracht Frankfurt has held sixth place since Christmas – although they only won one and suffered three defeats from the last six matches. There is no question that this has to do with the weakness of the competitors. Interesting in this case: Since Eintracht’s last relegation in 2011, there has been a team that finished sixth after 31 match days and had fewer points than Frankfurt (45), namely FC Augsburg in the 2014/15 season (43). But the pursuers have never been so far away.
The seventh in the table always had more points than SC Freiburg, while the ninth or tenth often had 40 points, like the Breisgauer team. The ominous 40 mark used to be a guarantee of non-relegation, but today they are in the race for a place in the European Cup. There is a lot to be said for Eintracht, which is way ahead in the snail race and has rarely had an easier time getting to Europe. If not now then when?
2024-04-29 15:11:00
