In the Bundesliga, VfB Stuttgart, threatened with relegation, has annoyed the strong European Cup aspirants Eintracht Frankfurt.
On Saturday (March 11th, 2023) the Swabians could even win at 1: 1 (0: 0) towards the end of the game. Stuttgart’s Silas Katompa Mvumpi (75′) equalized after Frankfurt’s Sebastian Rode (55′) took the lead. “We deserved to equalize,” said VfB coach Bruno Labbadia at the Sportschau microphone, “after that we had a lot more chances than Eintracht.” His Eintracht colleague Oliver Glasner saw “a bit of a strange game because we didn’t make it across the finish line.”
The SGE now has 40 points and, with sixth place, continues to rank internationally. Stuttgart is in relegation place 16 (20 points).
Stuttgart’s central defense is tight
The guests got the better start to the game, mainly relying on a midfield pressing against the individually strong Frankfurters. VfB Stuttgart stamped the relegation battle stamp on the game with a lot of commitment and physical intensity, had more possession of the ball and won more duels than Frankfurt.
Significant: The Stuttgart central defence, consisting of Konstantinos Mavropanos and Hiroki Ito, played flawlessly. After just under 30 minutes, the duo had won eleven of twelve duels with Frankfurt’s noble offensive.
The footballing quality of Frankfurt flashed against disciplined defenders from Stuttgart. For example in the person of Randal Kolo Muani, who let three Stuttgarters stand with an irresistible attack and technically demanding dribbling (24th minute). But the subsequent one-two into the penalty area to Kolo Muani missed Rafael Borré.
Rode flick deflected untenably from Sosa
It took a little support from Stuttgart for a Frankfurt attack to be successful. VfB didn’t get a dangerous situation cleaned up, Rode was allowed to try it from the right – his flick was directed by Borna Sosa with his head decisively over VfB goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow and hit.
The momentum was on the Frankfurt side in the minutes that followed. But that didn’t actually last long. Spurred on by the deficit, VfB pushed the ball forward and the first serious attack resulted in a wonderfully played equalizer by Silas. Eintracht even had to tremble against brave Stuttgarters in the final phase. Ultimately, however, it remained a draw.
Frankfurt facing an explosive task in the Champions League
During the week, the SGE is a guest at the SSC Naples (Wednesday, 9 p.m.) as part of the Champions League round of 16, after the uproar about a possible exclusion of Frankfurt fans in recent weeks.
In the Bundesliga, the Hessians continue away at Union Berlin (Sunday, 3.30 p.m.). Stuttgart welcomes VfL Wolfsburg (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.).