Our next opponents: 'And Kolo did the rest'

Position

Eintracht Frankfurt earned their first win on Tuesday after a run of seven games without a victory. The team from Hessen produced a very convincing performance for much of the game in the 2-0 win in the DFB cup quarter-final against Union Berlin. "We played brilliantly in the first half and the lads produced a great display overall," said head coach Oliver Glasner.

The relief at finally securing another victory was clearly evident with all the Frankfurt team. They had rarely played badly in the previous matches. "We've been unlucky in finishing recently – and today that was the crucial thing we did better," was the analysis of Mario Götze who provided two great assists for the goals scored by Randal Kolo Muani. The Frenchman netted both strikes in just 93 seconds in the opening stages of the game.

Frankfurt are currently in a minor crisis in terms of results in the league. Similar to last season, when Eintracht were fourth in the Hinrunde and only finished eleventh in the end, qualifying for Europe is again at risk for the team currently sixth in the Bundesliga. Last season, Eintracht fully concentrated on qualifying for the Europa League and they actually won the competition and thereby qualified for the Champions League where they were recently knocked out by Napoli in the Round of 16 (0-2, 0-3). The situation is different this time. "There's absolutely no reason just to focus on one competition," said Glasner. In the DFB Cup, with the semi-finals being drawn on Sunday, Eintracht believe they have a good chance of winning the title again – and that would put them into the Europa League next term. They also want to get back on track in the league. The win against Union should provide a turning point. "That's the yardstick," said captain Sebastian Rode. "We were really up for it, on the case – and Kolo did the rest."

Now comes the away game in Leverkusen against the nearest rivals for sixth place. The gap between Eintracht and Bayer 04 was ten points on matchday 22. Now, five games later, they are just separated by one point. And Mainz 05, who also have 40 points like the Werkself, plus VfL Wolfsburg (39) are in the running too.

PersonNEl

Oliver Glasner opted for the same starting line-up for the 2-0 DFB Cup win against Union Berlin as in the previous 1-1 draw against VfL Bochum. The Eintracht head coach saw little reason for making changes. Only the injury to central defender Hrvoje Smolcic in the international break led to a change. The Croat suffered a ligament injury playing for his country's U21 team and he will be out of action for the rest of the season. Smolcic will be replaced in the centre of the back three by stalwart Makoto Hasebe (39). Evan Ndicka plays at the back on the left and in the last two matches Glasner has opted to play holding midfielder Kristijan Jakic on the right side of defence. The Brazilian Tuta played in that position until he was suspended for the game against Bochum.

Captain Sebastian Rode and the Swiss international Djibril Sow have recently played in central midfield but is possible that one of the two could be replaced by Daichi Kamada. First choices on the flanks are Aurélio Buta (right) and Philipp Max (left), who was brought in on loan from PSV Eindhoven in January of this year. However, Christopher Lenz could again be given the chance to start in place of Max. Up front, the positions are clearly defined as seen in the last three Bundesliga matches as well as the DFB Cup quarter-final: Rafael Borré plays on the right, Mario Götze on the left. Down the middle is the outstanding Randal Kolo Muani. The former Bayer 04 player Lucas Alario has only made two starts to date (16 off the bench). He scored his only Bundesliga goal of the season in the 5-1 win against his former club in the Hinrunde.

In addition to Hrvoje Smolcic, Eintracht will have to manage without forward Jesper Lindström (ankle injury) and defender Almamy Touré (muscular problems) for the game in Leverkusen.

PERFORMERS

Kolo Muani has been "like sporting life insurance for Eintracht," the FAZ recently wrote about the Hessen striker. 19 goals and 16 assists this season are truly impressive numbers. The 24-year-old Frenchman from Bondy was signed last summer from Nantes on a five-year contract and he has proved to be a smash hit. Athletic, good at dribbling and quick off the mark: "Kolo is outstanding week after week and you can only talk about him in superlatives," was Sebastian Rode’s enthusiastic assessment of his teammate. The Frenchman has also benefited from possession gained by Eintracht. Only Bayern have scored more goals this way (eight) than the Frankfurt team (six) and Eintracht are definitely one of the strongest pressing teams in the league.

Problems

However, the dependence on Kolo Muani is something of an Achilles heel in Frankfurt's game. "Kolo can't score two or three goals every game. So it's a matter of spreading the burden on several shoulders," said captain Rode. The coach, in turn, has said his team has been very versatile in attacking recently and has created clear goalscoring opportunities. "The next and more important step is efficiency in converting chances," said Glasner. Daichi Kamada, with seven goals and six assists the best scorer and provider in the team after Kolo Muani has not found the back of the net in the league since October 2022. Jesper Lindström (seven goals, four assists) is currently injured.

Midfielder Djibril Sow has identified a particular weakness in defence: "The last goals conceded almost all came from set-pieces or long balls. We have to improve on that." Frankfurt have conceded 17 goals from set plays and that is the third worst number in the Bundesliga.

Prediction

Eintracht Frankfurt have gone away empty-handed from Leverkusen in recent years. Frankfurt have lost all of their last eight games at the BayArena. That mostly involved very convincing wins for the Werkself and the goal difference from a Frankfurt perspective is: 4 to 29. "It's been incredibly difficult for us in Leverkusen but we want to put the past behind us and go there to pick up three points again," said Sebastian Rode who, alongside goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, is the only player in the current squad who featured in the last win for Eintracht in Leverkusen (1-0) back in December 2013. A defeat in Leverkusen and wins for Mainz and Wolfsburg could see the Hessen team slip down to ninth in the table on this Easter weekend. It is obvious that they want to avoid that under all circumstances. "We face a difficult away game in Leverkusen but we’re in good shape and we have to take that spirit with us," said Randal Kolo Muani who is particularly looking forward to a reunion with his friend Moussa Diaby.