Varela’s time in Germany over after tattoo mishap, Frankfurt set for Dortmund clash
>> BERLIN: Eintracht Frankfurt look set to send Guillermo Varela back to Manchester United after the on-loan defender defied the German club and got a tattoo.
The 24-year-old Uruguayan had the tattoo made on his arm just days before today’s German Cup final and it became infected, ruling him out of Eintracht’s biggest game of the season.
“This behaviour is negligent and it damages the whole team,” the club’s sporting director Fredi Bobic said.
“Guillermo’s time with Eintracht stops here because of this behaviour and the club cannot tolerate a player contravening the wishes of the club’s coach and doctors.”
Varela went on loan to the German club last summer but his time in the Bundesliga has been blighted by injury and he made only seven appearances in the league and three in the cup.
Eintracht play Borussia Dortmund in the cup final in Berlin.
Dortmund’s strike force will be led by Gabon star PierreEmerick Aubameyang who may play his last match for Dortmund against Frankfurt.
The striker is reportedly pondering his future after finishing the Bundesliga season as leading scorer with 31 goals.
Reports have linked the 2015 African Footballer of the Year with Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan.
Meanwhile, Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa said he was still haunted by the April 11 bomb attack on the team bus.
“I was frightened — and I am still frightened, to be honest,” the 28-yearold wrote on his Japanese blog.
“I’m afraid to get on the [team] bus, I am afraid to drive to games.”
Kagawa, like the rest of the Dortmund squad, was left shell-shocked when three bombs blasted the team bus on the way to a Champions League quarter-final home match against Monaco.
Defender Marc Bartra needed surgery on a fractured wrist and a policeman was stunned by the blasts, which Kagawa said he “immediately felt” was an attack.
“At that moment, I could not say anything — I could not move,” he added.
“I was petrified, — I looked back and saw the shattered window panes.
“I saw Marc Bartra curled up. Like everybody else, I was completely shaken.”
WOLFSBURG STRIKE FIRST
Wolfsburg struck the opening blow in their battle to remain in the Bundesliga on Thursday when they defeated neighbours Eintracht Brunswick 1-0 in the first leg of a promotion/relegation play-off.
A Mario Gomez penalty after 35 minutes proved the difference between the two sides who meet in the second leg on Monday.
Wolfsburg, who were league champions in 2009, finished in 16th place in the table forcing them into a playoff against their local rivals who were third in the second division.
Stuttgart and Hanover were automatically promoted to the top flight taking the place of Darmstadt and Ingolstadt who were relegated.