The countdown is on: On Wednesday evening (from 9:00 p.m. LIVE on RTL) Eintracht Frankfurt has what is perhaps the biggest game in the club’s history on the agenda, when they face Scottish top club Rangers FC in the Europa League final in Seville. sport.de summarizes the most important news about the match in the LIVE blog:
- Hinteregger confirms failure
- Rangers star is not afraid of Eintracht Frankfurt
- Daum emphasizes Kovac’s share in Eintracht’s success
+++ Frankfurt agrees +++
Eintracht Frankfurt prepares for the final with a summary of Filip Kostic’s nine Europa League goals. Can the Serb score more goals against Rangers?
+++ May 16 | 2:26 p.m .: Hinteregger confirms failure +++
Eintracht Frankfurt defender Martin Hinteregger has finally checked off the Europa League final in Seville.
“I hadn’t had this type of injury before. That’s why I realized right away on the pitch, that’s it. The diagnosis was actually just confirmation of the feeling. Whether it lasts three, four or six weeks isn’t important at first, because after that it’s vacation anyway,” said the Austrian.
The 29-year-old was injured in the semi-final second leg against West Ham United (1-0) and had to be substituted.
“I think they will be able to cope with my position because we have really excellent defenders. If everyone is in form, it makes no difference whether Makoto Hasebe, Tuta or I play in the back,” said Hinteregger.
+++ May 16 | 1:49 p.m .: Rangers call on fans: “Behave yourself!” +++
In 2008, Rangers fans in Manchester caused serious riots, 50 years ago a pitch attack brought the club a two-year European Cup ban. The memory is still fresh ahead of Wednesday’s Europa League final.
“This is a message for everyone who is going to Seville,” said Souness, who worked for Glasgow Rangers as a coach and player and won five league titles and five League Cups with the club. “Go there, enjoy it, have a great time. Our team did incredibly well to get there. Considering the path we’ve come in the last ten years to be in a real European final now, it’s a fantastic achievement,” but, says the 58-time Scotland international, “now it’s your turn. You have to go there and behave. Have a party, but behave! You’re going there as ambassadors for this great football club. Behave, otherwise we all have headlines that can hurt us for a long time.”
The background to the appeal to their own fans is less in the present of the club, whose appendix was instrumental in the semi-final triumph over the highly favored RB Leipzig, but in the past: 2008, when the Scots were in a European one for the last time When the final was over, Rangers fans caused riots, some of which were serious, especially after the UEFA Cup final against Zenit St. Petersburg. A Russian supporter was stabbed in the final venue of Manchester, and the BBC interrupted its regular program to report from Manchester.
+++ May 16 | 12:30 p.m .: Ex-Bundesliga star finds Frankfurt “doable” +++
Rangers star Leon Balogun is optimistic for the Europa League final. “We want to win the game – come what may. I definitely think that’s a feasible task for us,” said the 33-year-old in a round with German media.
The Rangers meet Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final on Wednesday and want to defeat a third German representative after Dortmund and Leipzig. Balogun estimates the odds at around 50:50.
The defender, who used to play for Hanover, Bremen, Düsseldorf and Mainz, has been with Rangers since 2020 and is enjoying his time at the traditional Scottish club. He is looking forward to the final in Andalusia with anticipation.
“Two strong and great clubs. It’s a shame that the capacities are so small,” said Balogun, referring to the stadium in Seville, which only accommodates 40,000 people. Both clubs could have sold ten times their allocated ticket quota of 10,000 tickets.
+++ May 16 | 10:12 a.m .: Funkel wants to open a “bottle of champagne” +++
Eintracht Frankfurt’s long-time coach Friedhelm Funkel wants to toast his former club in the event of a Europa League title.
“Then I’ll be happy and open a bottle of champagne,” said the 68-year-old from the “German Press Agency” when asked what he would do if Eintracht won the final on Wednesday evening. Funkel coached the Hessians from 2004 to 2009 and was last invited by the club to the semifinals against West Ham United.
He wants to watch the final at home with friends. “I’m emotionally involved, but not in such a way that I have to wear certain clothes. I still know many people from Frankfurt, including from the team. Emotionally and also from the heart I’m a very, very big Eintracht fan on Wednesday.” said Twinkle.
A title in the European Cup will “last forever,” explained the veteran coach. One could “put the team with the Champions League income one step higher, which is also necessary.”
+++ May 16 | 7:37 a.m .: Grabowski’s widow not in the final +++ despite being invited
The widow of the recently deceased Eintracht legend Jürgen Grabowski will not fly to Seville with Frankfurt for the Europa League final.
“I have an invitation from Eintracht, but just too much stress and no rest for it,” said Helga Grabowski of the “Deutsche Presse-Agentur”. She has too much to do because of damage to her car after an accident. But nothing happened to her.
“Besides, I’m not in a euphoric mood,” Helga Grabowski continued. Her husband died on March 10 at the age of 77. There was a big funeral service for him in the Frankfurt stadium. “President Peter Fischer told me: Eintracht is now your family,” said Helga Grabowski.
Her husband won the UEFA Cup with Eintracht in 1980, but was injured in the final against Borussia Mönchengladbach and was only there in civilian clothes when the cup was handed over. The club also used this scene in a tweet before the final against Rangers. “With Jürgen. For Jürgen. This year,” it says.
+++ May 16 | 6:55 a.m .: Daum sees Kovac as the initiator of the Eintracht successes +++
Former Eintracht coach Christoph Daum sees Niko Kovac as one of the main reasons for Frankfurt’s current successes.
“Under Niko Kovac they developed an unbelievable cohesion. This was continued continuously by Fredi Bobic and other coaches,” said Daum before the final of the Europa League of the “German Press Agency”. “International success has many fathers, but the trigger for me is Niko Kovac with his work.” This provided the “initial spark”.
Daum believes that coach Oliver Glasner’s team will win the title. “I assume that they will win the European Cup. They will then be in the Champions League, but they will probably lose Ndicka, Kostic and Hinteregger. That will be a huge challenge,” predicted Daum.
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