Dortmund/Leipzig (dpa) – The Europa League trauma of the Bundesliga soccer teams could come to an end this year.
Not even one team made it to the round of 16 last season. Since the reform and renaming of the competition for the 2009/2010 season, no German team has ever reached the final.
FC Schalke 04, the last winners of the previous UEFA Cup, now play in the 2nd Bundesliga. That was in 1997. “It’s been a long, long time since a German team was able to make a difference in this competition,” said licensed player boss Sebastian Kehl from Revier rivals Borussia Dortmund.
Round of 16 with four German teams?
The current second in the Bundesliga table BVB and runner-up RB Leipzig can and want to do the necessary preparatory work for progress this Thursday in the intermediate round. Dortmund receives (6.45 p.m. / RTL +) the Glasgow Rangers, Leipzig has to deal with Real Sociedad San Sebastian (9 p.m. / RTL).
Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt have already qualified for the round of 16 as group winners. 4 out of 16 – this is what the round of 16 could ideally look like from the perspective of the Bundesliga.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to show everyone in Europe that we’re still here,” Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc told Kicker. The 59-year-old would love to hold another trophy in his hands before he begins his retirement after this season. BVB is already out of the DFB Cup, in the league the Westphalians want nothing to do with catching up with FC Bayern despite the 3-0 win at 1. FC Union Berlin on Sunday and six points behind FCB.
In the previous competition of the Europa League, BVB made it to the final twice, but lost in 1993 and 2002. “We don’t have the title on the autograph card. Why not fight for it?” said Kehl.
Goalscorer Erling Haaland has been training with the ball again since Monday after a three-week break, but is not yet back in the squad against Glasgow. “Erling is not an issue yet,” said Marco Rose before the final training session. But even without the Norwegian striker, the BVB coach expects a win: “We want control over the game, we want to radiate dominance. For us, it’s about becoming more consistent in our performance and results. Then we’ll be able to to get very far.”
Leipzig still represented in three competitions
For Leipzig, who are also represented in the DFB Cup and are particularly interested in their title premiere there, they made it to the quarter-finals of the Europa League in 2017/18, and the group stage ended the following season. In time for the games against San Sebastian on this and the following Thursday, including with RB loan player Alexander Sörloth, the team is in a good mood, in the league Leipzig worked their way up to fourth place. However, coach Domenico Tedesco warned of the Spanish guests: “It will be a really difficult task for us.”
The assessment applies to many this year in the competition, which is always overshadowed by the Champions League. However, UEFA has already announced the “Maradona Derby” – FC Barcelona and SSC Napoli also meet in the intermediate round. Both clubs have great histories and once had Diego Armando Maradona in their ranks.
Both, as well as BVB and RB, missed out on progressing in the Champions League, but consoled themselves as third in the group with a place in the intermediate round of the Europa League. This also applies to record winners FC Sevilla, in whose Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán the final will be kicked off on May 18, or Sheriff Tiraspol. The Moldovan club caused a stir with a win over Real Madrid, among other things. So the German participants cannot be sure either, even if BVB and RB move into the round of 16.