Before the home game against his ex-club Eintracht Frankfurt, coach Niko Kovac from VfL Wolfsburg declared defending seventh place as the goal of the season. “At the moment, that’s the maximum we can achieve because the other teams are very close to us and the front teams are relatively far away,” said the 51-year-old on Friday at the press conference before the reunion (Sunday, March 17). :30 p.m./DAZN).
The Frankfurters are currently in sixth place with five points ahead of the “Wolves”. If one of the top six in the table wins the DFB Cup, this placement is enough for participation in the Europa League at the end of the season. The seventh in the table would then qualify for the comparatively less attractive Conference League.
Since the promotion to the Bundesliga: All Wolfsburg coaches with a record
Niko Kovac – 25 competitive games – 1.56 points per game
Term of office: March 23, 1998 to March 4, 2003 (took over in Wolfsburg’s first Bundesliga season on matchday 28 from promotion coach Willi Reimann)
One could “discuss whether the Conference League is interesting or less interesting,” said Kovac. However, he believes that every international game is important for the development of a team. “They are different in terms of atmosphere and intensity. You have to act differently than in the Bundesliga,” explained the VfL coach. However, with a view to the Europa League and Champions League places, he also said: “If we still have a chance to get close, then we’ll do it.”
VfL Wolfsburg’s coach Kovac is looking towards Eintracht Frankfurt’s path to success
In the long term, Kovac is pursuing similar goals in Wolfsburg as in his time at Eintracht Frankfurt. “I hope that we will be as successful here as Eintracht has been in recent years,” he said. Kovac had saved the SGE from relegation in 2016 and in the years that followed led him into secure midfield, in 2018 his time on the Main ended with the DFB Cup victory and the first Eintracht title after 30 years.
Since then, the “eagles” have always been fighting for international business and caused a sensation in Europe: the Europa League semi-finals in 2018/19 were followed by winning the title in 2022 and entering the Champions League round of 16 in the current season. “Please don’t get me wrong: We don’t have to win the Europa League and the Champions League now. But we want to keep going up,” said VfL coach Kovac. The “Wolves”, who had previously been represented internationally three times in a row, clearly missed out on the European Cup last season with twelfth place.
Eintracht Frankfurt’s fan choreos in the Europa League
In the next home game, the SBU received Apollon Limassol from Cyprus. Conclusion: Third win in the third game after Marseille had already been defeated away in a ghost game at the beginning.
It should have been a breathtaking choreo again… But due to arguments with the local police, the choreo was called off by the Eintracht fans at short notice.
In the 2019/20 season things didn’t quite go that far in terms of sport. But the fans immediately caused a stir – starting in the qualifying round against Tallinn…
In the 2021/22 quarter-final first leg, all seats in Deutsche Bank Park are occupied for the first time since the pandemic began. The Eintracht fans dedicate the choreo to the late club legend Jürgen Grabowski. In the second leg at the Camp Nou, which was won 3-2, 30,000 came from Frankfurt and thus plunged the Catalans into a short club crisis.
After the 2-1 away win in London, Eintracht won’t be denied a place in the final, even in front of their home crowd. The choreo is all about the north-west curve on which the fans are standing.
“Holy Diva from the Main – Pray for us” was what the fans said before the game with this goose bumps choreography. The requests were heard: Eintracht is the European Cup winner for the first time since 1980.
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