The dream of the next international title may have burst, but Eintracht Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner looked primarily at the instructive experience for his professionals.
“These games, even if they are painful defeats, help us to become competitive at this level,” said the Austrian on RTL after the 0-2 (0-1) defeat in the UEFA Supercup against Real Madrid.
Despite the defeat, the game in the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki against the Champions League winner was “very valuable” – probably also with a view to Hessen’s first-time participation in the premier class.
The joy of it was “great all the time,” said Glasner. But the focus of the Europa League winner is initially on the second Bundesliga matchday on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) at Hertha BSC.
Against Real with the scorers David Alaba (37th) and Karim Benzema (65th), Eintracht met a team “that was better in all respects,” said sports director Markus Krösche: “But that’s not bad, because Real Madrid is not our standard”.
After the clear defeat against FC Bayern Munich (1: 6) at the start, the benchmark was “the weekend, Hertha BSC and the Bundesliga”.