Black Wednesday on Vesuvius: Overshadowed by serious fan riots, Eintracht Frankfurt clearly missed the miracle of Naples. Coach Oliver Glasner’s team didn’t stand a chance against the ripped-off heirs of Maradona and lost the round of 16 second leg at SSC Naples 0-3 (0-1). A “guerrilla war” in the Neapolitan city center preceded the cracking premier class knockout.
“We had stupid ball losses before we conceded, they broke our necks. In the last third we lacked the punch,” said Frankfurt captain Sebastian Rode: “We wanted to show what we were made of. We managed that partially, but Naples was better.” He was nevertheless “proud of what has been achieved”.
Star attacker Victor Osimhen (45th + 2/53rd) and Piotr Zielinski (64th, penalty kick) scored for Italy’s sovereign leaders and destroyed Frankfurt’s tender hopes of another magical European Cup night.
Eintracht, who had already lost the first leg 2-0, held out bravely for just one half, but without the red-suspended top scorer Randal Kolo Muani they lacked penetrating power. SGE goalkeeper Kevin Trapp prevented a debacle.
“We didn’t come here as tourists. We want to make reality what nobody thinks we can do,” said coach Oliver Glasner immediately before the game. The Frankfurt team at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona did not follow the pithy words of their coach with the right actions.
Mario Götze and Co. were strong in combat, but far too good and harmless overall. And so the full concentration of the Glasner team is now inevitably on the tasks in the league and DFB Cup, instead of moving into the quarter-finals for the first time in the Champions League and Bayern Munich as the second German team to follow in the last eight.
“Guerrilla warfare” in Naples
First of all, Eintracht should focus on working through the ugly scenes from Wednesday afternoon.
Cars burned, firecrackers and chairs flew through the air, and a police helicopter circled over the city center: The “Corriere dello Sport” wrote of a “guerrilla war” in the center of the southern Italian city in view of the riots. Even the “Tagesschau” reported in its 8 p.m. edition.
Video images from downtown on Wednesday afternoon showed wild hunting scenes between masked people from both fan camps and the police. Detonations could be heard again and again, clouds of smoke traversed the narrow streets around the Piazza del Gesu.
According to “Gazetta dello Sport”, several cars, including a police car, are said to have been set on fire by German fans. In addition, bars in the area were damaged and tables, chairs and shop windows of bars and restaurants were destroyed.
Federal Minister of the Interior condemns incidents
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser condemned the shameful events “strongly” via Twitter on Wednesday evening. And even Eintracht board member Philipp Reschke had to admit: “It was the riots that we had to fear since the day of the draw.” It seemed “a bit like that,” he said, “that the groups that were looking for each other found each other.”
The “Corriere dello Sport” wrote of “around 600 Eintracht fans” who had traveled to Naples despite the ban on ticket sales by the Italian authorities and Eintracht’s waiver of the entire contingent of guests. Around 800 police officers should be on duty.
The first incident occurred on Tuesday evening after the arrival of up to 400 Ultras from Hessen at Naples Central Station. The buses with the SGE fans were shot at with pyrotechnics on the way to the hotel and other objects were thrown at them. According to Italian media reports, the attackers were Naples supporters.
The “HR” reported, citing eyewitnesses, of “larger groups of Napoli supporters” who were “partially armed” in the city.