Oliver Glasnercoach of Eintracht Frankfurt, spoke at the press conference after the 0-2 defeat against Napoli: “We are disappointed, but the defeat is deserved. The start was promising, but these good situations have not paid off. We made mistakes useless, we have lost self-esteem, Napoli has strengthened. The whole series of corner kicks, the mistake on the penalty, we lost the ball at 1-0, we almost doubled. That was Napoli’s moment and we lost self-esteem. Then with the expulsion of Kolo Muani… They waited for their chances, two or three excellent chances, one of those was exploited. All deserved but we’re halfway there. We don’t arrive as tourists with flags white to Maradona. It will be a difficult match, because with a goal we can bring the inertia of our side. We will try with all our strength”.
Are you personally frustrated? Maybe one of the worst games… “If there aren’t strong teams in the Champions League round of 16. Napoli have lost two games in ten months, they have class and quality. We played 15-20 minutes, but it’s too little. We must also say that, with our mistakes, you strengthen the opponent. As happened with Darmstadt in the cup. We’ll talk about it, we’ll analyze it, we’ll have to be more concentrated with ball possession. These are details that weigh you down with a team like Napoli, you’re punished with this speed.”
Su Kolo Muani. “It’s a bitter situation for him, for us too. A similar situation happened with Stuttgart, a foul by the opponent on us… Today it would have been a yellow card, usually. We have to try to cheer him up, at least in the Bundesliga he will be able to play”.
How did Eintracht perform? “Definitely not bad luck, too many individual mistakes. Obviously due to a strong Napoli, you’re always under pressure, you have to find quick situations, you’re always in trouble. Kvaratskhelia creates chances, some of our players have never played at this level. We’re disappointed , very disappointed, but if you have to learn to walk and you fall… Today we fell. We will take these steps”.
The first chance came in the 82nd minute… “That’s not true, we’ve had some, but we haven’t managed to make it happen. Maybe today we’ll receive the Nobel Peace Prize for the attack. You have to use every opportunity, but we haven’t succeeded. They do things very well, we don’t We were fast, thought too much about solving our problems. We lost our balls… Too much pressure, too many things at once.”
In the Europa League, one game was played in a week, now there are three. Can he regain confidence from the championship? “I don’t know, we weren’t in this situation yet. After the first Champions League, 0-3 with Sporting, you had already said that the Champions League was too high. We were eleventh in the standings, we’re here again, where maybe you think so “If in three weeks we can win with a two-goal difference in Naples and get to penalties, then I’ll pull the team’s hair. We’ll do everything, we’re certainly not hiding.”
Psychologically, how difficult is it to re-motivate a team like this, considering that the opponents don’t make mistakes? “This time too I have three weeks, I don’t have a solution now. I’m not going home to party, I’m disappointed like the players. In the meantime, I need tranquillity, peace, I’ll see you at lunch. There’s Leipzig … We want to continue the path in the Champions League, we deserve it, but I can’t say now if I have the right idea, what would be the point of getting to Naples? We would save ourselves the plane ticket”.
What is the quality of this Napoli? “How they exploited our mistakes, with what dynamics Lozano goes into space with incredible speed. In the second half too, always sure about ball possession, today I would have almost clear ideas on what I need in Naples, but I hope for the return of change tactics, but Napoli are strong, nothing to do. Quality is the dynamics in how they exploited our mistakes”.
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