Victory against Mainz: Frankfurt runs at full operating temperature – sport

It’s already a new ritual for Oliver Glasner that the Eintracht Frankfurt coach gets rid of his jacket in the final phase of a competitive Bundesliga match. As in the away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach (3: 2), the soccer teacher was only in a sweater on the sidelines during the home game against FSV Mainz 05 (1: 0) towards the end. Glasner later said that the warmth came from “outside and inside”: “It wasn’t as cold as I thought.”

Perhaps the hot flashes cannot be avoided at all if his team is running at full operating temperature until the final whistle. The deservedly won Rhein-Main duel meant the third Bundesliga victory within a week for the tireless Hessians, who had previously made it into the Europa League round of 16. Glasner spoke of a “fantastic finish, we scored an incredible number of points in the end”. His team, which is bursting with passion, not only trumps like a European Cup contender, it also winters on an international starting place.

Into the mesh: Frankfurt’s Jesper Lindström (right), the man of the day in the neighborhood duel.

(Photo: Arne Dedert / dpa)

It didn’t even look like that a few weeks ago. But just as the Austrian coach moved into the Champions League at VfL Wolfsburg despite his non-relationship with managing director Jörg Schmadtke, he overcame many adversities again. “The entire sporting leadership including the leading players gone, the theater in preparation: It was a lot, a lot of unrest,” says the 47-year-old looking back, but then the players would have noticed at some point that the coaching team was “not talking so much nonsense” .

From through the middle, that’s a way too

When the first slight successes came in the Europa League, the first Bundesliga victory at the beginning of October at Bayern, of all places, cleared further blockades, everyone gradually came together. But Glasner does not even want to name one key moment in a first half series full of contrasts: “The most important thing was not to allow yourself to be divided up.”

He himself has retained stylistic elements such as physicality and robustness under his predecessor Adi Hütter, and yet his ensemble is no longer so calculable. Jesper Lindström’s only goal (35th) served as the best evidence of the further development under a head coach who broke Frankfurt’s dependence on long-term flank donor Filip Kostic. Instead, hits sometimes come about after switching actions through the center. At 1-0, defense organizer Makoto Hasebe stopped a Mainz attack, Sebastian Rode fit into the interface, and Rafael Borré, who was striving for goal alone, put forward for Lindström who was also running, who easily nudged the ball over the line with his left. “Played perfectly,” enthused Glasner, who emphasized the “physical and mental readiness”. He can now “proudly” fly into the sun for a few days and then celebrate Christmas with the family in peace, “because we have stabilized our performance at a clear level”.

Bo Svensson sees his own mistakes

Just as the trainer “didn’t want to believe” the look at the table, so did many supporters when the tableau flickered over the video cube. In front of the 15,000 spectators, the Mainz team found it difficult to get into final situations on the deep grass. For the best chance it took until the 90th minute when Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp rescued against the advancing left-back Aaron Martin. Previously, Eintracht could have made the preliminary decision with a spectacular lift from Ajdin Hrustic to the crossbar (61st) or the free-standing Borré (67th).

There was a lot of frustration on the Mainz side after the end of the game. “It was not possible to take anything away in all areas,” admitted the largely canceled U21 national team captain Jonathan Burkardt. Coach Bo Svensson expressed himself even more critically, attesting not only a “bad performance” to his team, but also to himself. “The unity was clearly better. That is my responsibility: I made mistakes in the preparation.”

For the Dane it was obvious that the many hymns of praise after the home win against Hertha BSC (4-0) were of little help. “I feel like we leaned back a bit. We received a lot of pats on the shoulder – and we rested on that,” said Svensson, who consoled himself with it: “This game offers some opportunity for players and coaches where to start. ” But then again in the new year.

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