Europa League
:
Frankfurt as group winners directly in the round of 16
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Frankfurt’s players stand in a circle before kick-off.
Photo: dpa/Mustafa Alkac
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Frankfurt With a slight tremor to the intermediate goal: Eintracht Frankfurt has reached the first milestone in the hunt for another magical European Cup season. The team scored 1-1 against Fenerbahce Istanbul and secured the important first place in the group.
With a slight tremor to the intermediate goal: Eintracht Frankfurt has reached the first milestone in the hunt for another magical European Cup season. The team of coach Oliver Glasner came in the preliminary round against the Turkish top club Fenerbahce Istanbul, who started without Mesut Özil in the starting eleven, to a 1: 1 (1: 1) and secured the first group place, which has been so important in the Europa League since this season.
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This means that the Hessians are right in the round of 16 in their favorite competition and can save themselves the grueling detour via the intermediate round against a group third in the Champions League in February. Djibril Sow (29th) scored for the SGE, who were unbeaten in the preliminary round, while the German U21 European champion Mergim Berisha (42nd) equalized for the Turks, who were relegated to the Conference League. In addition to Frankfurt, Leverkusen is also set for the round of 16 in March from a German point of view, Dortmund and Leipzig have to go through the second round.
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At the end of the group, Glasner had absolutely no desire for arithmetic games. “We won’t wait and see and say, one point is enough for us, we’ll see what comes out. We’ll definitely be playing for a win,” announced the 47-year-old. In return, the Austrian trusted his most recently proven team, only Jens Petter Hauge slipped into the first team for the slightly ailing Jesper Lindström.
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And the newly formed offensive harmonized equally well, Rafael Borre (3rd) and Daichi Kamada (10th) forced Berke Özer to make first saves early on. The semi-finalist of 2019 determined the game in half-time one, the Turks who did not start with the best cast concentrated on the defensive without Özil and Max Meyer, who was also sitting on the bench for the first time (was substituted in the final phase).
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Sow succeeded in an urgent phase of the SGE with a poke, the overdue lead, Berisha equalized out of nowhere after a gross blunder by Hasebe. After the change, the Bundesliga team acted much more cautiously, but still radiated more danger than the hosts. Filip Kostic (57th) moved centimeters from the half-left position, and substitute Sam Lammers (74th) also made his shot just past the corner.
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