It’s been an emotional time at Eintracht of late. Prior to their last home game against Augsburg, they held a minute’s silence for club legend Bernd Hölzenbein, who passed away on 15 April. Fans and many more associated with the club were back at Deutsche Bank Park last Sunday for a moving memorial ceremony to honour their record goalscorer and World Cup winner.
On the pitch, Frankfurt were beaten 2-1 in Munich last weekend, which didn’t really tarnish the mood. Managing director for sport Markus Krösche spoke of “a decent away game” from his side. Coach Toppmöller stressed that there were lots of positives they could take ahead of facing the Werkself. “We want to go into the Leverkusen game with the same spirit so we can take a big step towards our goal,” he stated. That goal is to finish in sixth place, which Eintracht have occupied continuously since Matchday 16. It would ensure qualification to the UEFA Europa League at the very least.
Despite defeat to Bayern Munich, things didn’t actually get worse for the Eagles, since their closest rivals Hoffenheim, Freiburg and Augsburg also all lost last weekend. Eintracht had claimed a crucial 3-1 win at home to the later the previous week. Going into that game, Augsburg were only three points behind and then also took the lead, but Frankfurt turned things around with a much better second half thanks to goals from Fares Chaibi, Hugo Ekitike and Omar Marmoush.
Eintracht’s final three games of the season are against Bayer 04, away at Borussia Mönchengladbach and then at home to RB Leipzig. They are unable to reach Borussia Dortmund in fifth, so it’s about looking over their shoulders now from sixth. The gap to Freiburg and Hoffenheim (who got a point on Friday night) is five, while Augsburg are six behind. Things look comfortable enough for now, but three tough final fixtures could see things get tight by the end.
Toppmöller’s side have had to contend with a number of injuries since the turn of the year, perhaps costing them some vital points. However, all first-team players are now back except for captain Sebastian Rode (knee) and Sasa Kalajdzic (ACL). Rode is hopefully of making an appearance on the final day against Leipzig before retirement. Winter loan signing Ekitike, whose move from Paris Saint-Germain has now been made permanent, went off with a knock in the defeat to Bayern but has since trained fully with the team. It’s good news for Frankfurt, given the Frenchman has started to find form for his new club.
Ekitike got his first goal in Eintracht colours at the 12th attempt in the 3-1 win over Augsburg. The 21-year-old then doubled his tally with a well-taken equaliser in Munich. “I’m obviously pleased he’s scored twice in a row. That’s Hugo’s quality. In footballing terms, he’s without doubt beyond reproach,” said Krösche of the striker he has now signed until 2029. Ekitike strengthens an already impressive Frankfurt front like. Marmoush is their top man there with 11 goals and eight assists. Ansgar Knauff (7/2), Junior Dina Ebimbe (4/3) and Mario Götze (3/2) also provide serious quality in their transitions, which have resulted in eight goals – the same total as the Werkself.
The Eagles are particularly strong at home, losing only one of their last 25 Bundesliga fixtures at Deutsche Bank Park (3-1 vs. VfB Stuttgart in November 2023). Toppmöller’s side rank fifth in the division for points at home with 28 (W7, D7, L1). Eintracht have also demonstrated comeback qualities with 17 points earned from losing positions, second only to Augsburg in that regard (23).
Set pieces are not an area where Frankfurt have flourished this season, scoring a league-low three goals as a result. They are also bottom of the Bundesliga standing for shots (347), which works out at just 11.3 per game. All that potential in attack hasn’t quite managed to come out yet.
Eintracht’s recent home record against Bayer 04 doesn’t make pretty reading for Werkself supporters, who have seen their team lose their last five visits to Frankfurt. The last two have ended in heavy 5-1 and 5-2 defeats. Leverkusen last won in Germany’s financial capital on 25 November 2017 (1-0). Given those stats, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Eintracht were to be the side to end the Werkself’s record unbeaten run of 47 games. It’s also worth noting that none of the 77 Bundesliga meetings between these sides have ended 0-0. No other fixture has been played as often at this level without a goalless draw.
Victory on Sunday evening would see Eintracht take that “big step” towards European qualification that Toppmöller would like. Depending on results elsewhere, it could even guarantee at least Europa League football for the 2021/22 winners. Should Dortmund remain in fifth and actually go on to win the UEFA Champions League, then sixth place would even mean a spot in the new format Champions League. But there’s still a lot of ifs and buts before then…
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