15.05.2022 11:02
Before the Europa League final of Eintracht: Glasner makes these demands on his players
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Frankfurt am Main – After completing a mixed Bundesliga season feverish Eintracht Frankfurt towards the game of the year. The finale in the Europa League electrifies the entire club and the city. The coach deliberately downplays the importance.
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Eintracht Frankfurt’s head coach Oliver Glasner (47) prescribes regeneration and a shot of composure for his team before the important Europa League final in Seville. © Torsten Silz/dpa
Oliver Glasner (47) is relaxed before the biggest and most important game of his coaching career. There is no sign of excitement in the 47-year-old football teacher before the Europa League final with Eintracht Frankfurt against Glasgow Rangers.
“It’s very important that we don’t make it bigger than it is. Of course it’s a final, but it’s still a football game,” emphasized Glasner after the 2-2 win in the Rhein-Main duel at 1. FSV Mainz 05 at the end a mixed Bundesliga season.
But that is easier said than done. On Wednesday, the Hessians can win an international title in Seville for the second time since the UEFA Cup triumph 42 years ago.
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For weeks everything in the Main metropolis has revolved around this one game. Glasner therefore ordered his protégés to regenerate and relax after the successful dress rehearsal in Mainz.
“Now we can’t just sit at home and think about the Rangers for hours. It’s similar to high school. You’re either prepared or not. If you’re not, it doesn’t help to cram everything in the last few days before.” , said the Austrian.
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Europa League final is a novelty for Eintracht Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner
After the start of the season with the DFB Cup defeat against Waldhof Mannheim, it still looked pretty bleak for the SBU. After that, however, the Hessians continued to develop steadily. © Uwe Anspach/dpa
As for the team, the duel with the Scottish runners-up for Europe’s minor football crown is also “a novelty for Glasner, because I’ve never been in an international final. I enjoy playing in the final with these guys and this club, with all the euphoria we created.”
The former professional hadn’t even dreamed of that when he moved from Wolfsburg to Frankfurt last summer – especially since the start was very bumpy. “If I had given that as a goal, the team would have said what is he talking about now. In the condition we were in at the beginning of the season, there would have been no chance of reaching the final,” stressed Glasner.
In the DFB Cup, the Hessians failed in the first round at Waldhof Mannheim, and there was also no win in the first six games of the season in the league.
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Heavy damper for the Europa League fairy tale: high penalty for harmony
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“It was difficult at the beginning, but I consciously got involved in the project. It was always turbulent and there were setbacks. That’s where you see how a club ticks and how you stick together,” said Glasner.
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Oliver Glasner and Markus Krösche drive the development of Eintracht Frankfurt
The preliminary highlight of the Eintracht season certainly happened in Spain, when Frankfurt knocked out the great FC Barcelona in the Europa League quarter-finals. © DPA/Arne Dedert
Together with the sports director Markus Krösche, who came from Leipzig, the family man implements a game philosophy that has borne fruit especially in Europe.
While Eintracht was average in the league and ended the season in eleventh place with just 42 points – their worst record in five years – they played some exciting football internationally. At the latest with the now legendary appearance at FC Barcelona, she conquered the hearts of many fans far beyond the city limits.
Glasner feels this euphoria every day – above all, of course, in Frankfurt. “I’m always out and about in the city. You can tell that somehow everyone is a Eintracht fan. It feels like the whole of Germany is keeping their fingers crossed for us, that gives us extra energy,” he said.
The coronation is to follow in Seville. “We’re in the final because we haven’t lost a single one of twelve games. Because we’ve always managed to put our strengths on the pitch, especially in the knockout duels,” said Glasner, setting out the route: “We’ve got everything in the head and in the body. Now it’s time to build up this joy, this enthusiasm, this passion.”
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Table 1. Bundesliga
The Bundesliga table has the following meaning: Whoever is in 1st place at the end of the season is German champion. Those who are in ranks 17 and 18 are relegated to the 2nd Bundesliga. The third last place (position 16) may play in the so-called relegation for relegation. The opponent is the third-placed team in the 2nd Bundesliga.
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Cover photo: Torsten Silz/dpa
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