Dhe dream was real, but not Eintracht Frankfurt, but Real Madrid brought home the next trophy. This time it’s the Supercup, which the record winner of the premier class has secured for the fifth time. 2-0 thanks to goals from David Alaba (37th minute) and Karim Benzema (65th) on Wednesday evening against Eintracht, which despite the defeat in the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki again cut a good figure on the European football stage, the dominance of the game but deservedly had to admit defeat from Real.
“Of course you want to win the title in a game like this,” said Sebastian Rode on the DAZN streaming service. “That just wasn’t enough today. You have to take advantage of the chances against the Champions League winners, we didn’t manage that. Coach Oliver Glasner’s team should get over the defeat against Real. At least six group games in the Champions League, the sovereign territory of the Spaniards, will soon lure the Europa League winner.
Kostic dropped from the squad
The first awards and praises on this great football evening came an hour before kick-off. With Ansgar Knauff (youth player of the Europa League season), Vinicius Junior (youth player of the Champions League season) and Benzema (player of the Champions League season), three professionals were honored for their outstanding performance.
The fourth in the group, who could also have enjoyed the Supercup showcase, had decided not to be present at the most important game of his career: Filip Kostic. The Eintracht professional, who was moving to Italy to Juventus Turin, had been removed from the squad for the European summit the day before.
Eintracht President Peter Fischer complained about the procedure and timing of the 29-year-old Serb’s change of location and league at a club reception. “If you ever get the chance to play in the Supercup final, against Real Madrid, not against Wetterau, Real Madrid! If you then get the award for best player in the Europa League down there in front of 500 countries looking somewhere, and you don’t do it, then I realize how messed up the business is at the end of the day,” he said Fischer in front of 300 invited guests. “It hurts.” Nevertheless, Eintracht’s first man praised Kostic’s many years of work. “Filip was an exceptional player for Eintracht Frankfurt, who we will always have in our hearts.”
It was clear that Christopher Lenz would take over Kostics part on the left in the duel against Real Kostics. It wasn’t the only change in the starting lineup. Glasner also decided to leave Mario Götze on the bench for the time being. Daichi Kamada made the starting eleven for the world champion. In the defense network, it quickly became clear that the back three was actually a block of five, because the two withdrawn wing players Lenz and Knauff constantly did defensive work.