For Sebastian Rode and Makoto Hasebe

One last time together for Eintracht: Sebastian Rode (left) and Makoto Hasebe should receive a worthy farewell against Leipzig.

Many, all in all, complicated calculations can be made as to how likely it is that at the end of the season which Bundesliga teams will advance to the European Cup beyond the long-established Champions League participants Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, VfB Stuttgart, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund -Competitions are allowed to represent.

Frankfurt Eintracht could make it very easy for themselves – they simply have to win at Borussia Mönchengladbach this Saturday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky), then sixth place can no longer be taken away from them, which gives them the Europa League secures and offers a chance for the premier class (if Dortmund wins the pot against Real Madrid on June 1st).

But it would be a surprise if Eintracht made it so easy for themselves. Because in the past few weeks and months she has often failed to clear things up with a win. If Frankfurt had only had to win one of their home games against Darmstadt, Bochum, Wolfsburg, Union Berlin and Werder Bremen and not draw, then they would no longer have to worry about the outcome of the season.

“We will do everything for it”

But the guillotine of failure still hangs over Dino Toppmöller and his team. It could even be a downfall for the coach, even if Eintracht were swept into the Champions or Europa League due to the persistent weakness of their pursuers without gaining another point in the remaining matches with Gladbach and Leipzig. The chorus of his critics is not exactly quiet; the sporting leadership would have to make very sophisticated arguments to justify his continued employment. Success does not justify every means or every achievement.

“It doesn’t matter whether we come sixth with 45 points or with 70,” Toppmöller told the media on Friday at the Eintracht professional camp. In his particular case it doesn’t really matter whether it’s 45 or 48 points. If Eintracht were to lose sixth place, which they have occupied continuously since the 2-1 home win over Gladbach on matchday 16, Toppmöller would be hard to hold on to.

The pressure is there, the pressure is unpleasant, but not just for the Frankfurt team, also for the team from the Lower Rhine. They are playing their weakest season since 2012 and still need a win (if the competition doesn’t cooperate) in order to safely avoid 16th place and the associated relegation games. “We have our goal for the season in mind and are close to the finish line. We will do everything we can to defend sixth place,” announced Toppmöller.

The 5-1 defeat against Leverkusen had motivating repercussions: “We are totally willing, but also angry about the result against Leverkusen. The key moments didn’t work out for us. We have to force this happiness. We still have to add a few percent more in terms of commitment, intensity, football quality and efficiency.”

In order to implement this plan, Toppmöller will not make any major personnel changes. Even Niels Nkounkou, who caused the huge defeat against Leverkusen with two serious mistakes, could be back in the starting line-up. “We have the opportunity to trust him again. We have the opportunity to place Philipp Max in this position. We have the opportunity to bring Willian Pacho into the side. There are a few mind games, we haven’t made a final decision yet,” Toppmöller explained and added: “Each of us, starting with the coaching team and me, has made mistakes this season. We’re not going to start pointing fingers at anyone with two games to go. We won’t nail the boy to the wall because he’s made mistakes in the past few weeks. Niels has also done a lot of good things.”

A win over Mönchengladbach would have a positive side effect. The old hands Sebastian Rode and Makoto Hasebe could be used again in the meaningless last game against RB Leipzig before they go into well-deserved retirement. Toppmöller continued: “I discussed this in the dressing room during the week. It’s really important to me and us to give these two players the farewell they deserve. That means a lot to us. That’s why I used the motto against Mönchengladbach: For Seppl, for Hase, for us.”