The longing remains unsatisfied: Eintracht Frankfurt once again missed out on the redeeming first home win in the premier class on the dream trip through Europe. Without their World Cup hero Mario Götze, the long-convincing Hessen had to settle for a 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur around star striker Harry Kane, but still remain in the tight group D in the race for the round of 16.
In the once again breathtakingly loud Frankfurt cauldron, the Europa League winner missed the second success in the third Champions League group game after the three at Olympique Marseille (1-0) despite a decent performance. The Hessian Bundesliga club will start the journey to the second leg with the English top team in London in the coming week with pressure in their luggage.
Frankfurt had to do without Mario Götze. The 30-year-old still has too much pain in his ankle after twisting his ankle last weekend, said coach Oliver Glasner. Daichi Kamada therefore advanced, while Djibril Sow and Kristijan Jakic returned. Otherwise, the team that had convinced against Union Berlin (2-0) started.
Despite the bitter Götze failure, the Frankfurters started with commitment against the Premier League third party. In a hard-fought initial phase in front of 50,500 fans, the SGE made a much better impression, caused danger for the first time through captain Sebastian Rode (18th) – and thus started a strong urge phase.
Frankfurt and Spurs deliver an open game
Out of nowhere, however, the hitherto pale power offensive of the guests reported. Kane (25th) just missed a cross, national goalkeeper Kevin Trapp would have been powerless in front of national coach Hansi Flick.
Eintracht then lost some of its momentum, also because Spurs made significant gains with former Bundesliga stars Heung-Min Son, Ivan Perisic and Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg. It was Son (40′) who flicked the ball wide of the goal from 16 yards out, Perisic’s (43′) shot just missed.
Glasner’s eleven gave the first sign after the break: after an outstanding pass from Sow, Ansgar Knauff’s direct acceptance was too imprecise (50th). On the other side, Evan Ndicka saved with a strong tackle against Kane (51st), before Son (54th) approached the lead again.
A completely open game developed with opportunities for both sides, but Eintracht gradually lost their strength. Jesper Lindström (60′) missed Frankfurt’s best chance, Kamada (76′) also aimed too imprecisely.