The return to normal, as far as circumstances allow, is imminent. In a week, spectators will again be admitted to the stands in the Frankfurt soccer arena in the city forest. The city's health department gave the go-ahead and allowed up to 10,000 spectators to enter the game against AS Saint-Étienne on July 31, which is also the dress rehearsal for the cup game in Mannheim that follows at the beginning of August. The approval is linked to a number of conditions. The seven-day incidence must not exceed 100 by the end of the month, and half of the visitors must in any case be vaccinated against the coronavirus or have recovered from the disease. Should it work the way everyone involved envisions the action,For the first time in almost nine months, a Hessian soccer performance will be surrounded by a previously accustomed background noise.

Marc Heinrich

Sports editor.

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Everything was different on Saturday. During the first test in the stadium during this pre-season phase, only substitutes, coaches and club employees created something like atmosphere. The Frankfurt team lost 3-2 to Racing Strasbourg in a ghost game atmosphere in the huge concrete bowl. The opponent, whom the Hessians got out of the way during qualification for the Europa League in summer 2019, will in turn start the Ligue 1 program in 14 days -Coach Oliver Glasner had forecast in advance at the end of the third week of attunement. Afterwards he went mildly to court with his own people. Glasner criticized "too many easy ball losses and too many small ones in dangerous zones".At the same time, however, he also exercised forbearance because his own team had previously completed intensive training units.

Lindström paused

The Austrian chose a similar approach as last time in the trial matches against Wehen Wiesbaden (1: 3), Sandhausen (1: 0) and Gießen (6: 1). He started with a starting line-up, all of which had first-class appearances, then exchanged extensive changes at halftime and also brought in young talent. National goalkeeper Kevin Trapp started between the posts, central defense was formed by Evan Ndicka and Tuta, while Martin Hinteregger was the central element in the back three; the 28-year-old also wore the captain's armband - an indication that his status for the team under Glasner should increase from now on. On the offensive, Daichi Kamada and Amin Younes were intended as suppliers to Aymen Barkok, who tried his hand at the unfamiliar role of a striker.He was later replaced by Goncalo Paciencia, who was unlucky with his actions. The Danish newcomer Jesper Lindström took a break, and the Colombian Rafael Santos Borré, who was introduced on Friday, has to undergo the necessary medical checks before he can also get on board.

The Frankfurt lead resulted from a combination of Younes and Filip Kostic on the left, which Ajdin Hrustic completed as third in the league to make it 1-0 (6th minute).

Strasbourg equalized with Ajorque Ludovic (20th), although Tuta and Sebastian Rode had previously done him the favor of not clearing up decisively enough.

Again on the basis of Kostic, who in turn looked for and found the advanced Hrustic, the second Eintracht goal fell: The Australian gave RC keeper Eiji Kawashima no defense with a full shot (22nd).

Ten changes up to 60 minutes

At the beginning of the second half, Stefan Ilsanker, Makoto Hasebe, Timothy Chandler, Christopher Lenz, Ali Akman, Erik Durm and Paciencia were substituted on for the Frankfurt side. Before they sorted themselves properly and everyone had their foot on the ball, the Strasbourg struck: Adrien Thomasson made it 2-2 (52nd). After about an hour, Glasner also gave Rodrigo Zalazar, Fabio Blanco and Fynn Otto the opportunity to prove themselves. They didn’t really stand out either. Instead, Diallo Habib managed to make it 3-2 for Racing (81st). Overall, according to Glasner, the performance of his team was too "prone" to errors, "we have to get the protection better."

From now on, Dejan Joveljic does not play a role in the Eintracht concept, as the coach confirmed on Saturday evening. The chances for the young Serbian to get enough working time were not very good, so that he came to an agreement with the club that they should better part ways. Most recently, Joveljic, who was brought from Belgrade in 2019 with great expectations, was loaned to RSC Anderlecht and Wolfsberger AC. According to media reports from his homeland, he is now drawn to Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer. He is talking about 3.5 million euros as a transfer fee. Eintracht announced that he had been released to clarify his future.