Magical night for Eintracht Frankfurt, later point for Bayer Leverkusen, bankruptcy and disappointed fans at Union Berlin: The Bundesliga clubs experienced completely different European Cup evenings on Thursday. With the convincing 3: 1 (2: 1) against the Greek record champions Olympiacos Piraeus, Eintracht made a big step towards the knockout round of the Europa League. Returning Robert Andrich (82nd) saved Leverkusen 1: 1 (0: 0) at Betis Sevilla. Union lost in the Conference League at Feyenoord Rotterdam on Thursday 1: 3 (1: 2).
In Frankfurt, Rafael Borre (26th), Almamy Toure (45th + 3) and Daichi Kamada (59th) scored the clearly improved Eintracht to the second win in the third game compared to the Bundesliga. With seven points, the club stormed past the Greeks to the top of Group D. For Piraeus, otherwise a regular player in the Champions League, Youssef El-Arabi scored (30th, hand penalty). Frankfurt got off to a strong start, acted in a much more structured way than before and developed danger ahead. Above all, the strong Borre occupied the Olympiakos defense around the ex-Dortmund Sokratis. It was also the Colombian who initially failed twice (20/23) before he was fouled in the penalty area and safely converted the penalty. An unnecessary handball by Kristijan Jakic brought the pale guests back quickly – El-Arabi also scored from the point.
Even after the break, the Frankfurters let themselves be driven forward by the impressive backdrop of 35,000 spectators. After a long-range shot from Goncalo Paciencia, who was in the starting line-up for the first time, Kamada, who was also agile, reacted quickly and scored the third goal by stabbing.
In Seville, Borja Iglesias (75th, hand penalty after video evidence after a blackout by Jeremie Frimpong put his club in the lead. Andrich equalized for Leverkusen. Despite the draw, the Germans as leaders of Group G with seven points after three games still have good chances On reaching the knockout round. Winger Moussa Diaby could have taken the lead after dribbling past Bravo. The Werkself did not suffer from the setback against Bayern on Sunday. Leverkusen continued to play with a lot of traction. One Alario’s free kick from Demirbay was artificially forwarded to the crossbar with a touchdown (11th). Bayer were lucky they didn’t fall behind out of nowhere. Captain Lukas Hradecky let a shot from Iglesias ricochet off and Aitor Ruibal hit the margin over the gate (24th) Hradecky saved the best chance of Diego Lainez’s second half (56th) e first Frimpong, Andrich gave the answer.
In Rotterdam, Alireza Jahanbakhsh (11th), Bryan Linssen (29th) and Luis Sinisterra (76th) shook the famous “De Kuip” stadium and gave the league leaders with seven points a brilliant starting position for the second leg in 14 days the old forester’s house. For Union, Taiwo Awoniyi (35th) only made it to the interim connection gate. The game was marked by several incidents outside the stadium. The Union delegation around President Dirk Zingler had been attacked by hooligans the evening before in a bar near the team hotel. Feyenoord apologized to Union on Thursday for the “cowardly act”. At the entrance there were also massive problems for hundreds of Union fans.