EJulian Nagelsmann actually stands for goal spectacles. He prefers a 5:2 to a 1:0. On Saturday, when his champions Bayern had to hold their own against the recalcitrant Frankfurters on their way to winning the title again, it was really only 1-0 in the end – and Nagelsmann, the Munich champion coach, later said he was “very happy”. Happy also because the front runners found it very difficult in this top game of the 24th Bundesliga matchday.
This was not only due to Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who held the ball well, but to the entire Frankfurt team, which proved to be a stubborn opponent with great fighting power. “I’m not happy with the result,” said Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner, who saw Leroy Sané’s winning goal from the touchline (71st minute). “But I am very happy with the performance. Today I’m much more relaxed than after the defeat in Cologne last week.”
The timing of his starting XI debut could not have been better. And so Eintracht newcomer Ansgar Knauff was able to show from the start on the right offensive side that he knows how to act with great self-confidence and a lot of fearlessness. To the extent that Knauff, who came to Frankfurt from Borussia Dortmund, played carefree, Ajdin Hrustic, who was also called up for the starting lineup, lacked this freshness factor.
„Stop it, Putin!“
Although he took over the vacant position of the suspended Kristijan Jakic, he was unable to repeat the good performance from the game in Stuttgart, in which he scored two goals as a substitute. Because coach Glasner also refrained from using Rafael Borré as a striker from the start as usual and gave the Colombian a break, offensive teammate Jesper Lindström moved to the front as the sole entertainer.
Before it started in the arena, which was sold out with 25,000 spectators in the current Corona times, it got quiet. As in the other stadiums before, there was also a minute’s silence in Frankfurt because of the war in Ukraine. “Today it’s blue and yellow instead of black and white like snow,” said Eintracht before the top game. “We don’t use walk-in music. The boxes remain silent, instead there will be a league-wide minute’s silence before kick-off. Against the war. For peace and unity. Stop it, Putin!” A call that could also be seen on all advertising boards and the huge video cube in the stadium. Bayern captain Robert Lewandowski wore another armband in the national colors of Ukraine to match his captain’s armband.
In terms of sport, things got off to a good start. In the second minute, Eintracht tried their luck on the offensive. Lindström, sent by goalkeeper Trapp with a quick tee shot in the direction of the Bayern goal, was only stopped in the penalty area by Niklas Süle as he continued to push forward. The starting position for the counterattacking Frankfurters was even better when Filip Kostic, who was again more offensively oriented, initiated an advance, played a one-two with Lindström and then appeared in a promising position in front of Bayern goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, but was unlucky. His weak right foot just missed the target.
