Frankfurt / Main (dpa) – Eintracht Frankfurt’s board spokesman Axel Hellmann sees outsider chances for the Bundesliga soccer team in the Europa League games against FC Barcelona.
“We are planning for the semi-finals. We plan not to be eliminated,” the 50-year-old told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” before the first leg of the quarter-finals next Thursday (9 p.m.) in Frankfurt. In an interview with the “Frankfurter Rundschau” Hellmann explained: “I don’t know how big the chance is, but we have one. We’re not playing against Barcelona to make Bella Figura.”
The first talks with the officials of the five-time Champions League winner from Spain were respectful: “But you can tell that they don’t have us on the map.” The hit against Barcelona, a few days after full capacity in the stadiums is possible again, is “a godsend.”
Run on Eintracht tickets
Eintracht received over 250,000 ticket orders for the first leg, but only 48,500 fans are allowed into the stadium. Up to 35,000 Frankfurt supporters have registered interest in tickets for the second leg on April 14 at the Camp Nou.
The games against Barcelona are also good for Eintracht financially. “We were bursting with economic strength before Corona. Now on June 30, 2022 we will report an operating loss of over 70 million euros over three seasons,” said Hellmann, who is a candidate for the new Executive Committee of the German Football League (DFL).
The games against the Spanish super club are something historic. “This pairing is the biggest imaginable one I can take part in in my Eintracht life,” Hellmann told the “FAZ”. “Our president Peter Fischer is right when he says these games are the biggest since the 1960 European Cup final against Real Madrid.” Back then, the Spaniards won the national champions’ cup with a 7:3 in Glasgow.