Eintracht Frankfurt sees itself as a sports club that takes a political stance. When socially relevant issues arise, the Bundesliga club has not shied away from commenting on whether it was a matter of rejecting the AfD or showing solidarity with the victims of the racist attack in Hanau. On Saturday evening, not only was the arena in the Frankfurt city forest lit up in the Ukrainian national colors of blue and yellow, but before the game against FC Bayern kicked off, white capital letters flickered across the video cube: “Stop it, Putin!”
There was a lot of applause for the message shared by many of the 25,000 spectators via social media. In the end, the scoreboard showed a result that only the Bavarian supporters liked: 1-0 for the favourites. Leroy Sané, who came on as a substitute just four minutes earlier, rewarded Munich’s superiority after 71 minutes – which can also be read on the statistics sheet with 64 percent ball possession and 20:7 shots on goal – when, after a perfect pass from Joshua Kimmich, he scored for the only time on this cool February evening outstanding keeper Kevin Trapp, who, like in the sensational 2-1 victory on October 3 last year, seemed at times to surpass himself.
“We’ve invested a lot, but you can’t defend everything against Bayern,” said Trapp. The best Frankfurter even received encouragement from Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann, who was happy about a “valuable victory”. “We had the necessary calm, good control and defended stably. All in all, I think it was a good step for us,” said the 34-year-old, who after five games conceding at least one goal naturally went to zero turned out. The duel rate of 62 percent of duels won by his concentrated and committed ensemble was also impressive, which Nagelsmann explicitly emphasized: “We were the more aggressive team, so the win was deserved.”
But there was another level that went beyond the sport and went back to Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. With his armband in the Ukrainian national colors, the world footballer had shown solidarity with the war-torn neighboring country of his homeland Poland. “I decided that this morning,” said the 33-year-old on Sky. “We know what’s happening and that the whole world doesn’t accept it. We have to support Ukraine.”
Lewandowski says of the war against Ukraine: “You can’t get that out of your head and forget it.”
He had previously supported the Polish Football Association’s announcement via Twitter that it would not play the World Cup playoff game against Russia planned for the end of March. “I can’t imagine going onto the pitch in a month and forgetting what’s happening. Sure, sport is one thing – but you can’t get that out of your head and forget it.” The fact that the Russian players can’t do anything for the war doesn’t change that. Nagelsmann expressed understanding for his number nine in the press conference. “He’s close to everyone. It’s not that easy to concentrate on the job.”
Before the game: Frankfurt sends a clear message.
(Photo: Michael Probst/AP)
After the minute’s silence “for peace and as a sign of sympathy” was over in the half-filled Frankfurt stadium, the two teams did not hold back in the sporting competition. An interesting game developed in the beginning, in which the Hessians presented themselves bravely. Although Benjamin Pavard had the first chance for the record champions with a dropkick (4th), Filip Kostic’s opportunity to lead Frankfurt was much better on the other side: The left winger, brilliantly staged by Jesper Lindström, only put the ball very delicately at the far post over (7th). “For us, the performance was clearly a step in the right direction,” said coach Oliver Glasner.
Eintracht was unrecognizable compared to the pale performances of the previous weeks and offered the “favourite opponent” from Munich – Frankfurt had won three of the last five Bundesliga games – above all in a combative manner. But the chances were already clear before the break: Jamal Musiala, praised by Nagelsmann for his immense diligence, headed too high (10′), Lewandowski aimed his headbutt just outside the right post (34′). In addition, Trapp parried a long-range shot from Kingsley Coman (24), then he threw himself headlong in the way of a Coman follow-up shot – and got the ball shot to the chin from a very short distance (39.).
Of course, it was also Trapp who cleared again against the free-standing Lewandowski (60th). Sané first had to be substituted on, whom Nagelsmann had left outside “to be able to add offensive power”, as he said, so that the spell broke: the national player elegantly steered the ball past Trapp after a perfect pass from Kimmich, who was clearly more present again. “It was a victory. We did it well. We could have taken the lead earlier. The mentality was really good. That was important,” said Kimmich.