Bundesliga side show chinks in their armour ahead of final trip
THE Bundesliga match against Mainz at the MEWA Arena in Rhineland-Palintate on Saturday was meaningless for Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Deutsche Bank Park club’s domestic performances during the 2021/22 campaign have, unlike their displays in the Europa League, been wildly erratic.
They were in 12th place in the table going into their final league game of the season so beating their local rivals was not going to secure European qualification or ensure they avoided relegation.
There was a distinct end-ofseason feel to the encounter. In the second half, after Mainz manager Bo Svensson and his Eintracht counterpart Oliver Glasner had both made extensive changes, play became scrappy.
Still, Glasner used the outing as a “dress rehearsal” for their meeting with Rangers in Seville on Wednesday night and fielded the strongest starting line-up available to him.
If Jesper Lindstrom, the Danish winger who has been out since the first leg of the Europa League semi-final against West Ham last month, recovers from a thigh injury he may be drafted in.
The return of the £6 million 22-year-old, who was named Bundesliga Rookie of the Season last week, will be a major boost to the Germans.
But the Eintracht side which took to the field before kick-off will be similar, possibly identical, to the one which plays in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in midweek.
Eintracht are not dissimilar to the teams Rangers have met and overcome in the knockout rounds of this competition – Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and RB Leipzig.
They have outstanding footballers in every area of the park, individuals with undoubted quality in key positions. However, they are far from infallible.
Kevin Trapp, their goalkeeper, has been in the form of his life this term and is being tipped by some in his homeland to displace Manuel Neuer in the national team ahead of Qatar 2022.
Ahead of him, Brazilian centrehalf Tuta impressed at times in the heart of the three-man rearguard. He certainly did well to get upfield and equalise at a Filip Kostic freekick. He will pose a threat at set-pieces.
Kostic did not have his best game at the weekend. But the Serbian wing-back still offered
The defence made poor decisions and misplaced passes
glimpses of his ability. He netted a piledriver from 30 yards out in the second half only for his strike to be disallowed for offside.
On the other side of the park, Ansgar Knauff, the on-loan Borussia Dortmund wing-back, did superbly to tee up Rafael Borre for a goal. He broke forward powerfully, barged past three players and then flicked the ball to the striker.
Borre, the Colombian centreforward, is a classy footballer. Fast, intelligent and skilful, he was involved in Eintracht’s first goal and showed great composure to net their second.
He is now in double figures for both goals and assists for the season and will have to be closely marked by James Tavernier and his team-mates in Andalusia.
Glasner uses a 3-4-2-1 formation and on Saturday he deployed Daichi Kamada and Jens Petter Hauge just behind Borre – like the twin No.10s favoured by Steven Gerrard when he was in charge in Govan.
Kamada and Hauge were not at their best in the MEWA Arena. But they, too, showed flashes of what they are capable of when they got on the ball. Given time and space, they will be able to create and convert chances.
But Eintracht will certainly present Rangers with scoring opportunities.
Almamy Toure came in to replace sidelined vice-captain Martin Hinteregger on Saturday and slotted in to the right of the back three as Tuta moved in to the centre.
In the opening 15 to 20 minutes Mainz played with great intensity, put their opponents under sustained pressure and took a deserved lead when Marcus Ingvartsen pounced on a loose ball and rifled into the roof of the net.
The Eintracht defence made poor decisions, misplaced passes and committed careless errors. In fact, at times they were in total disarray. Glasner admitted they could easily have fallen three behind.
The Austrian was pleased with how his men recovered, fought back and took the lead. They were leading 2-1 at half time. Still, they switched off early in the second half and allowed Anton Stach to ghost into their penalty area and set up Ingvartsen for another goal. They could easily have conceded another few thereafter.
Eintracht have been far better in Europe than they have in the Bundesliga this season. No side beats Real Betis, Barcelona and West Ham without performing well. The chances are they will far be better on Wednesday night than they were on Saturday.
But Hinteregger is a big loss to them. If Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent and Scott Wright can get in their rivals’ faces early on then they will be presented with opportunities to beat Trapp in the final third.
Eintracht Frankfurt are a decent side – but they are no better than those teams Rangers have beaten during their remarkable run to the final and can be defeated if Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s charges are in the mood.