With the clear home win against the guests from Milan, Galaxy made it into the playoffs earlier than expected. The ninth success in a row gave head coach Thomas Kösling’s team at least one more game on Sunday 9/10. secured Sept. The next goal now is to be able to play this match in front of our own – then large – crowd. This requires another win from the two upcoming games against the opponents from Hamburg and Düsseldorf.
The supposedly easier task should be the encounter with the Hanseatic League next Sunday (4.25 p.m.), as they said goodbye to the title race last weekend with a surprising home defeat against the newcomer from Paris.
For the Seeteufel, who are accustomed to success, this means a step backwards in the league, especially since they were recently represented twice in a row in the final, but each narrowly failed there. It is true that the Elbe started the current season with cautious forecasts, as those responsible around coach Charles Jones wanted to build a much younger team, while experienced players ended their careers. Of course, Hamburg still had the most recent successes in the back of their minds, but in the very strong Western Conference – often referred to as the “group of death” – only third place remained behind Rhein Fire and Galaxy.
Jones also quarreled with his boys after the first home defeat against the French, “because we lack consistency, we don’t learn anything from our mistakes”. So the coach did not look for excuses such as the bad luck with injuries that haunted Hamburg during the season and the reason why many top performers could not play.
The “lack of consistency” that Jones spoke of should warn Frankfurt against going into the game on the Elbe arrogantly. The Hamburgers achieve good results against big opponents and with a complete squad. They’re not League cannon fodder.
The home defeat against Paris was also the first in the “Hoheluft” stadium, where you could spectacularly turn some games around with the help of the fans. The first leg against the Hessians a month ago at the Bornheimer Hang was only decided in the final second by a field goal for Frankfurt, after the Devils had been ahead for a long time.
While the purple fans are dreaming of home rights in the playoffs, economic efficiency also plays a major role for those responsible for the Galaxy around managing director Eric Reutemann: one more home game would certainly make the tills in Frankfurt ring.
A win in Hamburg would even have an impact on the last matchday at home against the undefeated first team from Düsseldorf. Then it would be about winning the conference – today’s second from Frankfurt could still take pole position.
The reward for this: the first seed then has a week off and only intervenes again in the semi-finals at home.
For coach Kösling, this is currently still “future music, because we are not concerned with destroying the Düsseldorf series, but we want to improve every week and offer the audience our best performance”. The fans are a little more excited and full of anticipation, because never before have 7,500 tickets been sold two weeks before a home game, so that a new matchday record and a “full hut” are expected on the slope on September 3rd.
2023-08-23 19:58:12
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