Riots overshadow CL bankruptcy: Frankfurt fails after excessive violence in Naples

Riots overshadow CL bankruptcy
Frankfurt fails after excessive violence in Naples

03/15/2023 10:51 p.m

The riots before kick-off are likely to have an aftermath, but in terms of sport, the Champions League season is over for Eintracht Frankfurt. In the second leg, too, SSC Napoli is a size too big for the Bundesliga side.

Accompanied by serious riots, Eintracht Frankfurt said goodbye to the Champions League. The Hessians, who had no chance overall, lost the round of 16 second leg at the Italian top club SSC Naples 0: 3 (0: 1) and were eliminated after the 0: 2 in the first leg. In front of around 50,000 spectators, Victor Osimhen (45+2/53 minutes) and Piotr Zieliński (64 minutes) scored the goals for the Serie A leaders with a penalty kick.

“We had stupid ball losses before we conceded, they broke our necks. In the last third we lacked the punch,” said Frankfurt captain Sebastian Rode: “We wanted to show what we were made of. We managed that partially, but Naples was better.” He was nevertheless “proud of what has been achieved”.

The last appearance of Frankfurt in the premier class was overshadowed by violent riots. A few hours before kick-off, supporters of both teams fought street battles with the police in downtown Naples. Burning cars, devastated cafés and flares shaped the spooky scenery. “It’s clear that nobody wants to see that. It’s the riots that we’ve had to fear since the day of the draw. We have to work through that completely. But that takes time,” said Philipp Reschke, the Eintracht board member responsible for fan issues .

Videos showed how hooligans threw objects such as tables, chairs and firecrackers in the direction of the emergency services. A police car was set on fire. Although the Naples Prefecture had banned ticket sales to Frankfurt fans, several hundred Eintracht supporters traveled to the southern Italian city on Vesuvius without tickets. “It has been seen that such decrees are unsuitable,” said Reschke. “You can’t prevent riots with that.”

Götze misses a great opportunity

Even without the support of his fans, the Europa League winner acted on an equal footing with the home side before the break. This was also due to the fact that coach Oliver Glasner used a more defensive system with a back four for the first time in a long time. Aurelio Buta and Christopher Lenz joined the two central defenders Evan Ndicka and Tuta.

That had an effect. Naples struggled and initially hardly embarrassed the guests. National goalkeeper Kevin Trapp only had to prove his class with a shot from an acute angle by Chwitscha Kwarazchelia (19th). However, little went forward at Eintracht. Only once in the first half was there a flash of danger when Mario Götze came a step too late after a nice pass from Daichi Kamada against the rushing SSC goalkeeper Alex Meret.

On the other side, Trapp defused a shot from Kwarazchelia, who broke through (43′). But he was powerless against the header of Naples top scorer Osimhen. Shortly after the change, the Nigerian, who once failed at VfL Wolfsburg, struck again. After a pass from Giovanni di Lorenzo, the 24-year-old had no trouble completing the goal from close range. And it got even worse for Eintracht. When Zielinski was brought down by Djibril Sow in the penalty area, England referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the penalty spot. The fouled himself started and transformed ice cold.

Although Eintracht tried hard, they were clearly inferior to the Italian title contenders. Without the suspended top scorer Randal Kolo Muani and the injured Jesper Lindström, there was a lack of offensive momentum, and there was no impetus from midfield. So there were no chances. In the final phase, Naples switched to administration mode, so that the Bundesliga club was at least spared from further goals.