Frankfurt have rest of Bundesliga taking notice
BERLIN: Weeks of spectacular attacking football from Eintracht Frankfurt have got the rest of the Bundesliga sitting up and taking notice.
The club are enjoying their best ever Bundesliga campaign, have reached the Europa League quarter-finals, and are closing in on Champions League qualification.
“You can now describe us as a top team,” said Frankfurt coach Adi Huetter, whose team are unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions and have won five straight in the Bundesliga – matching a club record.
Frankfurt had never before reached 49 points after 27 matches. They also will face Benfica in the Europa League quarter-finals after victories over Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and a German-record of six wins from six matches in the group stage.
The only blot on Huetter’s record in his debut season was the first round German Cup exit against fourth-tier club Ulm in August. Frankfurt were the defending champions after beating Bayern Munich in the final last season.
But that embarrassing slip-up is long forgotten thanks to the attacking trio of Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller and Ante Rebic, who have emerged among the Bundesliga’s best with 16, 14 and eight goals, respectively. They have been involved in 46 of the team’s 54 league goals.
Jovic, who scored in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Stuttgart, has been linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona, but the 21-year-old Serbia striker is only one part of the team’s success, with Filip Kostic (two goals), Gelson Fernandes and Sebastian Rode also playing a part.
“What they deliver is running work par excellence,” said sporting director Fredi Bobic, whose team took advantage of Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 3-1 loss at promoted Fortuna Duesseldorf on Saturday to move into fourth place. “The lads are paid to score goals, but they also help out in defence.”