Conference League
Union will know its opponent in the eighth finals of the Conference League on Friday. Without stars, the competition leader eliminated the Bundesliga club Frankfurt.
It hurt my ears at times. That’s how loud the Eintracht Frankfurt crowd was. Fifteen minutes before the match, all 55,000 attendees sang the club song at the top of their lungs. The always enthusiastic Union fans were inaudible this time. Frankfurt has not stolen the title of the best atmosphere in a German stadium.
Union was not impressed. The club already went to Liverpool this season and knows the atmosphere in the German stadiums from the clashes with Union Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen last season. That experience helps. Trainer Alexander Blessin had also taught his team this in advance. Just as he had told his team to start the match better than last week in the first leg. That worked, as Union claimed the ball.
Closed first half
But it was a search for the people of Brussels. Eintracht Frankfurt is therefore not just any opponent. In 2022, the Bundesliga club won the Europa League. Things are currently going less smoothly for number six from Germany. Frankfurt won only three of its last ten games. They lost the same number of times and drew four times. But the quality is still there and the Germans were well in the block. Machida tried from far away. Sadiki replaced the suspended Vanhoutte without any problems and started closing gaps a little harder. Rasmussen played his best game so far in the Union shirt and tried to force openings by playing in one go. Nilsson was looked for in the air and Amoura in the depths, but it was always just not.
The same applied to Frankfurt. Yet the best chance in the first half was for Frankfurt when, just before half time, Chaïbi aimed a free kick into the net. Moris was awake and narrowly kept the ball out of his goal.
Amoura-Doors
Union also has quality, not least with Amoura and Puertas. Union’s golden duo always resurfaces when Union is having a hard time. The Algerian seemed to get stuck in the box, but he delivered the ball just in time for his buddy Puertas. He shot the 0-1 low into the corner. The same combination resulted in a 0-2 score moments later, but goalkeeper Trapp stood firm this time. On the other side, Moris also showed himself again with another great save on a header from the free-standing Nkounkou.
It was still trembling after Frankfurt’s tying goal, but Union held on. The Frankfurt fans continued to sing, but it is Union that accompanies Club Brugge in the eighth finals of the Conference League.
In the million-dollar dance of modern top football, the rhythm is usually determined by budgets. The budget that Union has to live with pales in comparison to that of Eintracht Frankfurt.
And so Union is still active on three fronts. The club is also well in the lead in the Jupiler Pro League, and will play Club Brugge in the second leg of the semi-final of the Belgian Cup on Wednesday. The draw for the eighth finals of the Conference League will take place on Friday.
FRANKFURT – UNION 1–2
Doelpunten: 47′ Puertas (0-1), 80′ Ayensa (0-2), 87′ Ebimbe (1-2)
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