Frankfurt in EL against Seville
Leipzig before an uncertain duel against Moscow
02/25/2022, 12:32 p.m
Three German clubs are in the round of 16 of the Europa League – but only Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt know where the journey is going after the draw. RB Leipzig meets Spartak Moscow, but UEFA has banned all games in Russia.
Spartak Moscow?! Vladimir Putin was advancing on Kiev with his army when RB Leipzig of all things drew the explosive draw in the round of 16 of the Europa League. In the light of the Russian President’s war of aggression against Ukraine, coach Domenico Tedesco will certainly only be able to look forward to the duel with his former club in a subdued manner. Tedesco, who coached Spartak from 2019 to 2021, was concerned about the situation in Ukraine last Wednesday – before the first rockets hit. “I hope that there will be a peaceful solution,” said the coach, who prefers to talk “about football and only about football”. Tedesco emphasized that as a coach he had “a sensational time” at Spartak, “both from a sporting and human point of view”.
“This is a special game for me, that’s clear. Of course I would have preferred different circumstances for the reunion. I really hope that everything will be done to find a peaceful solution quickly,” he said on Friday . In terms of sport, it was “anything but an easy task”.
Meanwhile, RB will be spared the trip to Russia. After the first leg on March 10th in Leipzig, Spartak have to play their home game on a neutral pitch a week later. That’s what the Executive Committee of the European Football Union (UEFA) decided on Friday morning. However, with the conflict escalating, who knows whether the round of 16 will even take place as planned. Neither Tedesco nor the club bosses at RB can influence that, they have to concentrate on the sporting – as difficult as it may be. After moving into the top 16, the runners-up dreams of Seville, where the Europa League final will take place on May 18th. And the first title in the club’s history seems quite possible in its current form.
Boom under Tedesco
“We’ve come a long way in the competition,” said international Lukas Klostermann after the 3-1 (1-0) win in the second leg at Real Sociedad San Sebastian on Thursday evening: “I thought you got the whole team It was also noted today that we are also determined to go far.” After the 2: 2 in the first leg a week earlier, the ultimately clear away win was enough for them to progress. “The competition is fun, we take it seriously,” he said: “We’re all up for it. Nevertheless, we think from round to round.”
However, Tedesco will also have found that he is about to gild a season that some might have thought lost. When the coach took over from the hapless Jesse Marsch in December, RB had just been relegated from the Champions League to the Europa League and were seven points behind a premier class rank in the Bundesliga. In the meantime the wind has turned. Tedesco not only led Leipzig to fourth place in the league, ideally he can even win trophies for the still empty showcase. Next Wednesday (6.30 p.m./Sky and Sport1) RB can come very close to the third final after 2019 and 2021 in the quarterfinals of the DFB Cup at second division club Hannover 96. And then there would be the Europa League, in which Leipzig had already made it into the top eight in 2018.
The other two remaining Bundesliga representatives, Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt, also face challenging tasks. Leverkusen meets Atalanta Bergamo and Eintracht Frankfurt was drawn to Leverkusen’s group opponents Betis Sevilla. Leverkusen and Frankfurt, as group winners, skipped the intermediate round and will initially play away on March 10th. The second leg will take place a week later on March 17th. The final will take place in Seville on May 18th.