Again no victory in the Bundesliga – and still the best mood: The fans of Eintracht Frankfurt celebrate their Europa League heroes euphorically.
Amidst the cheering chants of the Frankfurt fans, Sebastian Rode grabbed the microphone and got the supporters in the mood for the dream destination Seville. “We still have big plans,” said the captain of the Hessians to the audience: “We still have to go full throttle for ten days so that we can all hug and celebrate.”
The fact that Eintracht Frankfurt has been waiting for a win for seven games after the 1-1 (0-1) against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the gray everyday life of the league was only a side note on Sunday. The chance to make history in the Europa League final against Glasgow Rangers on May 18 outshines everything in Frankfurt these days. The fans celebrated their heroes long after the final whistle.
“It doesn’t matter today, bring us the trophy,” read a poster in the curve. Compared to the victory in the semifinals against West Ham United (1-0), coach Oliver Glasner changed almost the entire team. Only goalkeeper Kevin Trapp as well as Tuta and Evan Ndicka were again in the starting XI for the history books three days after the evening. Goncalo Paciencia (66th) scored a powerful shot for Eintracht after Alassane Plea (4th) had given the guests the lead.
However, the focus was initially on Adi Hütter. The former Frankfurt coach, who had left Eintracht in the direction of Mönchengladbach with some background noise, was greeted with a loud whistling concert.
The Austrian could get over it – his team got off to a good start in front of 51,500 spectators: Plea pushed in safely at the first attack. However, the Frankfurters were not unsettled by the early deficit and looked for the way forward – but there were no clear chances to score.
Eintracht Frankfurt – Borussia Mönchengladbach: Paciencia hits a dream
After both teams got off to a good start, however, the game flattened out in the middle of the first half. Gladbach was doing well, Frankfurt couldn’t think of anything – a relaxed summer kick developed with a great atmosphere in the stands.
That changed after the break. First the again strong Trapp saved against Gladbach’s Breel Embolo (49th), then Plea blocked Stefan Ilsanker’s shot (51st) on his own line. Although the league isn’t about anything anymore, both teams invested significantly more in the second round.
Glasner then brought some of the final heroes over the course of the game – such as Filip Kostic, Daichi Kamada as well as Jens Petter Hauge and Djibril Sow. However, Paciencia scored the equalizer from around 25 meters – and thus opened an atmospheric final phase in which Trapp reacted well several times.
Eintracht Frankfurt – Borussia Mönchengladbach: The votes
Oliver Glasner (coach Eintracht Frankfurt): “I’m very, very happy today. I know that one or the other didn’t go to bed until the sun was shining again on Thursday. A lot of things weren’t perfect. We found the game difficult, but we fell behind gotten stronger. The willpower and the character of the team are impressive.”
Adi Hütter (Borussia Mönchengladbach coach): “Despite everything, it was a great return for me because a few things had already been smoothed over beforehand. It was a good game. If you took the chances to score for 90 minutes, we should have won.”
Eintracht Frankfurt – Borussia Mönchengladbach: The line-ups
Frankfurt: Trapp – Tuta (46 Kostic), Hasebe, Ndicka – Ilsanker (65 Sow) – da Costa (83 Lenz), Hrustic, Barkok (58 Hauge), Chandler – Paciencia, Lammers (58 Kamada). – Trainer: Glasner
