DEveryone involved in Frankfurt was aware that it would not be child’s play to climb down from cloud nine in a short time and immediately tackle the next obstacles of everyday football life on the basis of the Bundesliga facts. But the determination with which they also mastered this endurance test made clear the quality that is in the team and has recently become more and more apparent.
Three days after the European Cup highlight against Betis Sevilla and around 48 hours after Eintracht drew a dream lot on their international foray with FC Barcelona, the duel in Leipzig presented a challenge that presented Oliver Glasner’s players with the difficult task of having to go to their performance limits again to keep the chance of advancing to the promising places in the table.
And even if no other coup was successful, they mastered the showdown at 0-0 with flying colors. The Hessians continued their spring bloom with the goalless draw against the Red Bulls: In Saxony on Sunday, Eintracht played their fifth game in a row from which they emerged undefeated.
The question of how Eintracht would have coped with the emotional state of emergency with their last-minute happy ending against the Spaniards also concerned Glasner’s counterpart Domenico Tedesco. The Leipzig coach speculated in advance that the highlight could provide an additional “push” and help the already physically very robust team to “develop new strengths”.
Problems for the offensive players
That’s how it actually happened – and although the Red Bulls developed a clear playful advantage in the encounter, the Frankfurt team repeatedly put the pinpricks in their mouths, indicating that they would be a force to be reckoned with this afternoon as well.
First of all, the dense fog in the arena caused by the fireworks that had been set off in the Frankfurt fan block for kick-off had to clear. Referee Christian Dingert promptly interrupted the game for a few moments; and when things could finally really get going, it was the people of Leipzig who got down to business with verve.
Eintracht found it difficult to establish an orderly structure, also because their offensive players Filip Kostic, Daichi Kamada or Rafael Borré were usually taken in double coverage as soon as they crossed the center line. In midfield, Sebastian Rode tried his best from the start – but without luck. He replaced the suspended Djibril Sow.
The captain, who was one of the fastest-running professionals in Glasner’s squad, had to do hard work to somewhat narrow the circles of Kevin Kampl and Christopher Nkunku, who repeatedly ran at speed. After the first half, in which he had more ricochets and carelessness than usual, Rode was over early. He was replaced by Ajdin Hrustic.
The basic approach of how Eintracht thought to be able to assert themselves and hold up against it could be seen after a short orientation phase: With long balls in the back of the RB full-backs, they tried to overturn the defensive bar. And if Jesper Lindström hadn’t gotten so hectic, the lead could have come from the pass by colleague Ansgar Knauff, which is well worth seeing (13th minute), and even had to.
As it was, the Dane tried to put it across again instead of looking for the finish himself – which would have been more appropriate, especially since his pass to Borré was too imprecise. The second appealing counterattack went similarly, with Lindström’s idea of involving Borré in the penalty area being thwarted by Kampl (36′).
Martin Hinteregger, who paved the way for himself and his team to the quarter-finals of the European Cup with his hasty action, was also one of the players in the black jerseys who were particularly challenged on Sunday. The Austrian cleared the line against Nkunku in the 22nd minute. The left post also saved the already beaten keeper Kevin Trapp from a long-range shot by Mohamed Simakan (27th) and the bar from an attempt by Konrad Laimer (41st).
Daniel Olmo (48th) and Nkunku again (53rd) also failed at the start of the second round to Trapp, whereby the impression was reinforced that the not necessarily dewy Eintracht ensemble would have to grit their teeth to get through the rounds unscathed get. Very few constructive things went forward, so that Peter Gulacsi was rarely seriously tested between the posts by RB, for example by Jens Petter Hauge (73rd).
Trapp was much more in focus: Even when Laimer showed up in front of him after a mishap by Kristijan Jakic and took brilliant measurements, the support of Eintracht still got his hands behind the ball (63rd), just like he did against Yussuf Poulsen kept calm (81st). Not much happened after that – but the people of Frankfurt in particular could live with it very well. “That was a good point,” Rode later said. “We can live with that after intensive weeks. Now we say goodbye to the international break and gather strength so that we can then go into the crucial games with full power.”
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