Before the first Champions League round of 16 in the club’s history, anticipation is great at Eintracht Frankfurt. Coach Oliver Glasner identified an “anti-Italian” style in opponents Naples.
Eintracht Frankfurt goes into the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday evening (9 p.m., live on hr-iNFO) against SSC Napoli with respect, but also great anticipation. “A very good and very stable team is waiting for us, but we are also very good and very stable,” said coach Oliver Glasner and immediately delivered the appropriate headline to his boys: “The team is hot as chip fat.”
Napoli come to Frankfurt in superb form, are on the verge of winning the domestic league title and have performed well in Europe as well. Only Inter Milan (in Serie A) and Liverpool FC (in the Champions League) have beaten the team this season. Glasner also calculated the cup defeat with B-Elf on penalties against Cremonese. “We want to be the third team to win against Napoli,” he said confidently. “There are points where we think we have a chance.”
No advantage in terms of intensity
The Eintracht coach has identified a special feature in the opponent: “Naples plays anti-Italian,” he said, adding: “They have by far the highest intensity in their game, they play aggressively against the ball.” One is prepared for it, but Eintracht will not have an advantage in terms of intensity.
One who stands for the intensity on the part of Frankfurt is Sebastian Rode. After his illness-related absence against Bremen at the weekend, Glasner held out the prospect of the captain returning. Rode trained individually on Monday. “He will be in the squad tomorrow but won’t be able to play from the start.”
Max, Buta and Touré new to the squad
As at the weekend, Glasner is keeping a secret about who will fill the middle position in the chain of three. Against Bremen it was Kristijan Jakic, while Makoto Hasebe and Hrvoje Smolcic were at a disadvantage. “These are very pleasant considerations for me because I can choose between players who are all in very good shape,” said the coach, not looking at his cards.
However, Philipp Max should be pretty sure in the starting XI. The newcomer from Eindhoven recently brought new impetus to the left side of Eintracht and initiated both goals against Bremen. Max is just as new in the Frankfurt Champions League squad as Aurélio Buta and Almamy Touré. Jérôme Onguéné and Luca Pellegrini, who had moved away, as well as goalkeeper Jens Grahl were eliminated.
This is how Eintracht could play against Naples.
