Sunday April 4th 2021
“Knew we’d shoot another one”
As close as never before to the dream
Seven points ahead of Dortmund, an impressive victory in a direct duel: Eintracht Frankfurt are extremely self-confident and are closer to the dream of the premier class than ever before. The successful coach Adi Hütter, however, has to deal with a nuisance.
The gigantic self-confidence that Eintracht Frankfurt is currently heaving past Dortmund in the direction of the Champions League is best described by Stefan Ilsanker. “When my goal was denied, I was not disappointed. Because I knew we would shoot another one,” said the Austrian after the Hessians 2-1 at BVB – and that’s how it happened. His goal hadn’t counted at first, but Portugal’s goalie André Silva scored three points late with his 22nd goal of the season, which sports director Fredi Bobic called “a really big win”.
In the table, Eintracht is now seven points ahead of Dortmund, the first-time participation in the premier class seems closer than ever for the traditional club. “We could have lived with the draw. The fact that we then make it 2-1 is of course huge,” said coach Adi Hütter, whose third season could approach the famous entry year with the entry into the Europa League semi-finals. Before Silva’s decisive goal, Mats Hummels scored for BVB and Nico Schulz with an own goal for the Frankfurt lead on Saturday.
The Austrian, who is undisputed in Frankfurt, did not want to comment on rumors about a possible move to Borussia Mönchengladbach. “I’ve decided to concentrate on the game,” said Hütter at Sky. “That we have an unbelievably historic chance is the most important thing for me right now. And that’s what I’ve focused on.” That’s how he probably wants to do it in the coming weeks – starting with the game against the surprise third Wolfsburg next Saturday (3:30 p.m. / Sky).
“We dug a big hole”
“The scenario is of course perfect. But we really deserve this happy ending,” said defender Evan Ndicka. If you would have expected Dortmund, Leverkusen or Gladbach to be in the premier class before the season, VfL and SGE, who have been consistently at their top level for months, are now surprising. Official Bobic, who publicly aims to say goodbye to the end of the season despite a contract until 2023, said he was “proud” of the way people believed in victory. “I’ve never seen the boys play like this in Dortmund.”
The result, which made the Frankfurters happy, left the Champions League quarter-finalist extremely frustrated. “Not reaching the Champions League would be a sporting and financial catastrophe. We are close and have dug a big hole,” complained defense chief Mats Hummels at Sky. BVB must now hope for several mistakes by Eintracht – and must not allow themselves any more mistakes.
“The chance of reaching fourth place is now small. If you are realistic, it should be difficult even with six or seven wins. That has logical consequences,” said Hummels. Eintracht, on the other hand, can hope to employ the trio Silva, Luka Jovic and Filip Kostic in the coming season. Then opponents like Real Madrid or Manchester City could possibly come to the Frankfurt World Cup arena.
.