The Eintracht players won the first leg of the round of 16 against PSV Eindhoven in the European Cup. They were cheered on by a number of fans who had traveled with them and converted the stadium in the forest into a forest stadium.
The stadium on the PSV Campus De Herdgang is somewhat reminiscent of the local Waldstadion in Frankfurt. Located 15 minutes by bike outside of Eindhoven, surrounded by greenery, the PSV youth train here – and above all, PSV “Vrouwen”, Eintracht’s round of 16 opponents in the Women’s Europa Cup, play here.
The special international flair
With its 2,500 seats, the Dutch forest stadium is of course not nearly as big as its counterpart in the city forest, but the 150 or so visiting fans who traveled with it made sure it was there 2-1 away win for Eintracht Frankfurt Women on Wednesday for home game atmosphere.
“Today the fans really made the difference,” confirmed Eintracht captain Laura Freigang after the game. “We came in and it was immediately loud. It’s that special international flair.”
Fan bus with 150 supporters
While the journey to Slovacko in the Czech Republic was still too difficult for many fans, many supporters wanted to be there for the second time “Eintracht Frankfurt international” took part in the European Cup. A special bus started from Frankfurt and shuttled fans to Eindhoven and back to Frankfurt at night. “We sang a lot on the bus and also got those who hadn’t been there so often familiar with the lyrics,” said Monika Gleich from the EFC Main Adlerinnen fan club.
Eintracht has been missing the “punch” for a long time
Since the Dutch had recently lost in the league against Ajax Amsterdam and are currently in fourth place in the table, Monika and her Frankfurt traveling group were hoping for an easy opponent. But the PSV “Vrouwen” seemed to get their frustration off their chest and took the lead through Lore Jacob (21st) against a Frankfurt team who had been lacking ideas for a long time.
“We fell behind with an unnecessary action,” said coach Niko Arnautis, analyzing the goal afterwards. Although they were mostly in control in the first half, they played too imprecisely and lacked the “real punch”.
Hoarse voices are rewarded
It only came when Monika and the Eagles had long since sung themselves hoarse. For 85 minutes they also gave it their all in the stands until their efforts were rewarded with the header by striker Freigang and five minutes later by Remina Chiba’s goal, also scored with a header.
“You could see that we were the stronger team today,” summarizes Freigang. “I’m proud of the team that we turned the game around.” Above all, according to the captain, it is important to go into the second leg with a one-goal lead.
Hoffenheim in front of the chest, quarter-finals in sight
The second leg next Thursday will really be a home game this time – not in the Waldstadion, but at the Brentanobad. Coach Arnautis hopes “that we can fill the hut and that the fans will carry us into the next round and that we can then celebrate reaching the quarter-finals together.”
Between the second leg against PSV Eindhoven there is still the DFB Cup game against Hoffenheim on Sunday. Monika Gleich doesn’t have much time to recover from her hoarse voice. “I drank tea with honey last night – it’ll be fine,” says the Frankfurt native optimistically.
Broadcast: hr- Fernsehen, Hessenschau Sport, November 13th, 2025, 5:55 p.m
