Eintracht Frankfurt deservedly lost the Supercup against Real Madrid, but looked positive after the game. After turbulent days, the defeat could improve the mood again.
It was all one size bigger anyway. The game, the title, and yes, in the end, the opponent too. If you want to look at it soberly, Eintracht Frankfurt has lost the second competitive game in a row of this very young season. In the Supercup against Real Madrid on Wednesday evening in Helsinki with 0:2 (0:1). And yet this defeat could change the mood of the Hessians, who have had turbulent, less than happy days behind them. Draw strength from the showdown with the royals from Madrid – that’s the motto.
“Today we met a team that was better in every respect. We deserved to lose,” Sports director Markus Krösche rightly stated after these 90 minutes in the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. But this 0:2 was more than a deserved defeat. the unity, at 1: 6 on Friday against Bayern Munich still under the wheels, showed an extremely appealing performance against the Spaniards.
Kamada with the 1-0 on the foot
The Hessians’ defence, which was completely overwhelmed against Bayern, allowed relatively little against the star ensemble from Madrid. Tuta saved once on the line against Vinicius Junior (17th minute), Casemiro also hit the crossbar once in the second period (61st). Apart from the two goals from Real, there was relatively little going on in front of the goal of Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp. The 90 minutes in Helsinki were by no means an attack by the Madrilenians.
On the contrary, Eintracht could, if not had to, take the lead early on through Daichi Kamada. The Japanese failed but at Real keeper Thibaut Courtois (14th). Sure, the Madrilenians were better, more ripped off, but it was by no means a dismantling, as some feared before.
“That wasn’t enough against Real”
“The performance makes me very confident for the next few weeks,” said coach Oliver Glasner. “We played at our upper level today. That just wasn’t enough against Real Madrid.” The Frankfurters had not reached this level on Friday. All the more important that the Hessians proved on Wednesday evening that such a mishap doesn’t happen to them twice in a row. And on Friday Filip Kostic even played in the Eintracht jersey.
The Serb’s impending departure had dominated the Helsinki days thematically so much that at times the game itself had taken a bit of a backseat. Also because of this circumstance, it was a good signal that Eintracht sent on the pitch against Madrid. The Kostic departure hurts, yes, and it will hurt for a long time, but Frankfurt have plenty of quality on the pitch even without the Serbs.
The view forward and back
Quality that wasn’t enough for Real Madrid, but should be enough for the Bundesliga. There it goes on Saturday (3.30 p.m.) against Hertha BSC. The real indicator, so to speak. “Real is not our benchmark. They are on a completely different level than we are. Our benchmark is the Bundesliga and Hertha BSC. We have to be measured by that,” emphasized Krösche in the stadium belly of the Olympic Stadium.
Even though the Hessians were looking straight at everyday life in the Bundesliga – in a slightly better mood than before – a look back was a must after the game against the royal team. After all, it was a historic game. “It was an extraordinary moment. We enjoyed it, as did the boys on the field. We worked hard for it, but we also showed that we have a lot of room for improvement,” emphasized Krösche.
Glasner wants to push the boundaries
Coach Glasner saw it similarly, but wanted to get rid of one more thing, deep in the night in Helsinki. “It’s not enough for this level, of course that gnaws at me. But it’s important that we now develop the ambition to work very hard to get to another level. We want to keep pushing our limits upwards.” , emphasized the Eintracht coach.
So that at some point in the future, losing to Real Madrid will not be a source of pride, but a source of frustration. For the time being, a 0:2 in the Supercup final is enough for the Hessians to be more optimistic after a somewhat dreary few days.
