Last chance for the Champions League
Dhe man is right. The last step is the hardest. Says Benjamin List. When Eintracht contests this final leg next Wednesday, the Frankfurt chemistry Nobel Prize winner will also be there in the evening under the Andalusian starry sky in the packed Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville.
So one last step. Then the season is really over. In everyday league life, the core business of Eintracht, it’s already over. At the end of a sportingly sobering Bundesliga season, there was a conciliatory end with the draw in Mainz. They came back strong after a weak start and finished eleventh in the final standings thanks to the point they won against the traditionally strong zero-fives: more was not possible at that point in time.
However, she had shown in the first half that more would have been possible with this team. Coach Oliver Glasner’s players managed to climb up to sixth place in the table before Christmas. The distance back then to a place in the Champions League: just a single point. Seventeen matchdays and many a sporting disappointment later offers a completely different picture: Eintracht, who ended up with 42 points (in the first half of the season there were already 27), have increased the gap to fourth place by 16 points. Not much was successful in the second half of the season. A broken leg?
Success outshines everything
no The famous appearances beyond the country’s borders have made up for everything so far. Eintracht and the Europa League: what belongs together belongs together. Remarkable and turning the page, what a force the team develops in their absolute favorite competition and, thanks to the symbiotic connection with their enthusiastic supporters, it deservedly made it to the final in Seville this Wednesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Europa League and on RTL). has achieved.
The success in Europe outshines everything. From an economic point of view, the fact that Glasner’s team already has their hand on the trophy and only has to grab it will bring the club between 22 and 25 million euros in sales. And a multiple of renown and reputation.
Final sprint against the Rangers. Eintracht feels ready for the ultimate measurement with the Scots. The team is standing. Glasner kept his word and let the eleven best professionals play at the dress rehearsal in Mainz. The moment of horror when Evan Ndicka had to be treated and substituted as a precaution did briefly cause concern. But the Frenchman, one of the big climbers this season, has nothing worse and is ready for Rangers.
In addition, it is still possible that Jesper Lindstrøm, another formative Eintracht player, will return to the team. Thanks to bold games in the Bundesliga, the Dane even made it to rookie of the season. It is the only award that the Frankfurters can pin on the reverse in the league. For this they reach for the stars in Europe.