Eintracht Frankfurt celebrates a successful dress rehearsal for the round of 16 in the Champions League with a 2-0 win against Werder Bremen.
At the final whistle, Mario Götze and Randal Kolo Muani were already wrapped up in their winter jackets. Coach Oliver Glasner happily high-fived his players: Eintracht Frankfurt’s dress rehearsal for the eagerly awaited round of 16 of the Champions League was a success – with manageable effort, but the desired success.
“We clinched an important victory. We allowed very, very little, so we can be satisfied,” said Rio world champion Götze after the lackluster 2-0 (1-0) against Werder Bremen sky, with which Eintracht kept up with the top group in the Bundesliga – and once again gained self-confidence for the duel in the premier class with SSC Naples. “We have great games ahead of us,” emphasized the international, who, like star striker Kolo Muani, was substituted early to save energy.
An own goal by Bremen captain Marco Friedl (8th) and once again Kolo Muani (52nd) made the Hessians celebrate three days before the first leg in the premier class. Eintracht deserved success against extremely weak guests, but Frankfurt must improve against the leaders of the Italian Serie A on Tuesday (9 p.m. / Prime Video).
“The defeat is absolutely deserved,” admitted Friedl, “we didn’t bring in the necessary conviction with the ball.”
Frankfurt – Bremen: Friedl with an early own goal
Full focus on the league, only then anticipation of the festive evening in Europe – that was Glasner’s motto. The Eintracht coach had assured in advance that they only talked about Werder. Naples? Shouldn’t be the big topic until Sunday.
The Hessians, who were looking for compensation after the bankruptcy in Cologne (0: 3), started accordingly seriously. Frankfurt controlled the game in front of 50,000 fans with high pressing, calm possession, but no playful highlights. The early lead brought additional security: Werder defender Friedl steered the ball somewhat awkwardly into his own goal after a cross from Kristijan Jakic.
Shortly thereafter, Daichi Kamada stumbled freely in a promising position and missed (12th). It should have been the last dangerous conclusion for a long time, a lot happened between the penalty areas. Shortly before the break it was the Hessians who caused another threat after Jesper Lindström’s best attack of the game.
In the run-up, the duel between Frankfurt’s top scorer Kolo Muani and Werder’s national player Niclas Füllkrug was also a topic of conversation. Füllkrug, the top scorer in the league, but disappeared for long stretches, the guests could think of almost nothing offensively. SGE goalkeeper Kevin Trapp experienced a quiet Saturday evening.
Kolo Muani’s speed, on the other hand, kept flashing. At 2-0, however, the World Cup runners-up only had to push in from a short distance, Werder goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka had parried the Frenchman’s first attempt immediately before. Frankfurt also kept everything under control in the final phase, Glasner took Kolo Muani off the field after just over an hour with a view to Tuesday.
Eintracht Frankfurt – Werder Bremen: The data of the game
