18:27
This is the first time these two teams have ever met, so we don’t have any comparable figures. However, the Belgians have already played against German teams in the past, and there were six duels in the Europa League last season. In the group phase, the duel with Union Berlin was evenly matched (1:0, 0:1), but in the round of 16, Les Unionistes clearly prevailed against the same opponent (3:3, 3:0). However, against Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals, their trip to Europe was over (1:1, 1:4).
6:14 p.m
The guests moved into these play-offs as second from a group with PAOK, Aberdeen and Helsinki. In the new year, however, Eintracht is a bit lost, after the surprising win against Leipzig, they only managed a three-pointer against Bochum, Cologne, Mainz and Darmstadt, all teams from the bottom third of the table. Frankfurt is in sixth place in the Bundesliga and should qualify for the Conference League again at least before the season. Maybe we can get back to our old form internationally; these competitions suit the Eagles, as we know from the past.
6:03 p.m
A favorite cannot necessarily be identified in this duel, as will be seen. Saint Gilloise is eight points ahead of first place in the domestic Jupiler Pro League, where they have only lost twice after 25 games, so Eintracht should be warned. The Belgians moved down one competition from the Europa League, finishing third ahead of the Austrians in a group with Liverpool, Toulouse and Linz. At home they beat the English.
5:46 p.m
To start, let’s take a look at the lineups. At Saint Gilloise, German coach Alexander Blessin is making three changes compared to the last competitive game. Former Frankfurter Lindner, Castro-Montes and Burgess come into the starting line-up for Moris in goal, Sykes and Terho. Sardiki is missing due to a yellow card suspension, Leysen and Rodríguez are not there due to injuries. Eckert Ayensa is a German striker on the bench. On the other hand, Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller is also rotating, but in four positions. Grahl, Max, Knauff and Larsson will be replaced by the recovered Trapp, Tuta, Nkounkou and Kalajdžić. Larsson is missing from the Bochum game due to his injury. Due to the personnel castling, it is once again a five-man chain, after four players played at the back at the weekend. Bahoya and van de Beek are not eligible to play in this competition and are therefore missing from the squad.
Welcome to the play-off first leg of the Europa Conference League, where Union Saint-Gilloise and Eintracht Frankfurt face each other. Kick-off at Lotto Park in Brussels is at 6:45 p.m.!