Eintracht Frankfurt wants to face the ailing Borussia from Dortmund without fear and probably also without Omar Marmoush. And in the best case scenario, put a comfortable cushion between yourself and the supposed top team.
Dino Toppmöller will not send his scouts over to the DFB campus, which is only a few hundred meters away from the Eintracht Stadium. There, in Niederrad, Dortmund’s Borussia are currently fine-tuning their form, which – let’s put it as it is – has been miserable recently. Against Leverkusen and especially in Kiel, the Black and Yellows really messed up the start of the year. Toppmöller, however, did not forego a closer top view of the opponent, who had jetted directly from Kiel to Frankfurt, out of arrogance, but for another reason: “We want to stay with ourselves.”
Eintracht Frankfurt against Borussia Dortmund, a traditional duel in a pick-packed arena, high-flyers against the fallen, and on Friday evening (8.30 p.m./in the live ticker and audio stream) was labeled as the top Bundesliga game at the start of the second half of the season. There are many stories that the game writes in advance, but which the Frankfurt football teacher tries to ignore as much as possible: “We want to stay in the here and now and take Dortmund down with everything we have.”
Marmoush insert wobbles more than ever
It would be helpful if Omar Marmoush wasn’t already employed at Manchester City (although it would probably be less bread than salary). As for Marmoush, Toppmöller said on Thursday afternoon, there was “no new water level report. He will normally play”. In the evening, however, reports emerged that the Marmoush transfer was now fixed. The clubs have not yet confirmed this. It is now unlikely that Marmoush will play against Dortmund.
Toppmöller on the ban: “Actually an acquittal”
Dino Toppmöller was shown a red card at the end of the Europa League away game in Lyon. The Latvian referee Andris Treimanis found the Frankfurt coach’s comments too critical. The punishment for Toppmöller is now known: He will not be allowed to stand on the sidelines in the home game against Ferencváros Budapest next Thursday. The coach took it with humor: “One game, that’s actually an acquittal.” In fact, it is the minimum penalty for a red card.
The visiting team of coach Nuri Sahin, who somewhat fortunately won the first leg 2-0meanwhile, has had a more than disappointing first half of the season, is only tenth in the table and is already eight points behind third-placed Eintracht. With a home win, the Hessians could finally pull away. However, despite all the opponents’ crisis, Toppmöller believes: “They have a team with high individual quality. Borussia Dortmund is a bit above us in terms of squad, budget and ambitions.”
Toppmöller thinks about something new
The coach then quickly shifted the focus back to his team, which at least started the year with two wins. “It’s less important what BVB does, but rather what we get on the pitch,” said Toppmöller, who attested to his team’s “great development”. “Nevertheless, we should keep our feet on the ground and remain humble.” There is no risk of withdrawal at Eintracht so far anyway.
In terms of personnel, the coach can rely on almost the entire squad, only Aurèle Amenda, who has been injured for a long time, is missing. It is not unlikely that Toppmöller will rely on the same players in the starting eleven as he did at St. Pauli and against Freiburg, which would be a novelty in this round.
Toppmöller didn’t want to reveal his ideas, “but that’s within the realm of possibility because we’re just starting with the three-day rhythm of the game.” The prerequisite for an unchanged starting eleven: that what Toppmöller said to Marmoush on Thursday at 2:06 p.m. still holds true a day and a half later. Could be difficult.
This is how Eintracht could play
The possible Eintracht lineup against Dortmund.
