Full house in Frankfurt?
You have to look far back to discover a packed soccer arena.
November 2, 2019: When Eintracht set out on that Saturday afternoon to defeat FC Bayern Munich 5-1 in a furious game thanks to goals from Filip Kostic, Djibril Sow, David Abraham, Martin Hinteregger and Gonçalo Paciência, they were the last time to date 51,500 spectators at a Bundesliga match in Frankfurt.
This Sunday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and at DAZN) they expect a full house in Frankfurt again.
But in Corona times under different circumstances.
The Frankfurt health department has approved the club, which actually resides "in the heart of Europe" with its posh professional camp, a backdrop of a maximum of 25,000 spectators.
Half a house is the new full house.
And it is not even certain that the arena will really be so busy against VfB Stuttgart.
"We expect that we will be sold out," said a spokesman for Eintracht before the duel with the Swabians.
The club did not want to give numbers of tickets already sold.
Fight for viewers
Even when it started this new season under Corona conditions, those responsible for Eintracht were extremely optimistic.
But when Kassensturz was made, only 22,000 spectators were in the books after the game against FC Augsburg.
The Bundesliga is no longer pulling as usual. Even in Frankfurt, a magnet for sold-out games for years, a rethink has begun.
Axel Hellmann, spokesman for the three-person Eintracht executive board, recently had to admit at the SPOBIS industry congress in Düsseldorf “that we have to get off our high horse and try to address the people on our doorstep”.
Hellmann has developed a keen sense of what can be expected of the Bundesliga and Eintracht.
Even before the start of a new season full of uncertainties, the Frankfurt board spokesman used the formula that he has now renewed at Europe's largest sports business event: “We have to go back to the villages and not to Asia to pick up the fans there.
More Wetterau, less Asia. "
Long way out of the crisis
For the 50-year-old Eintracht manager, the dwindling interest is no coincidence.
On the first match days, several Bundesliga stadiums were not fully occupied.
“We have to get back to the people.
Much more than we have done in recent years, ”said Hellmann.
He also spoke of "serious corona consequences" for football, which put enormous pressure on the Bundesliga: "The way back from the crisis is much further than we think."
That is why there was a concerted campaign against Augsburg three weeks ago with his board colleagues Markus Krösche and Oliver Frankenbach, who, together with President Peter Fischer and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Philip Holzer, applauded the audience for their visit.
"We want to show how important it is that you are all there," said Hellmann in the direction of the fans.
Regardless of whether there are 22,000 or 25,000 spectators against VfB and thus ensure a full house under new circumstances: The game is of great importance for coach Oliver Glasner's team.
The first win of the season should be successful.
In addition, at least two personal details come into focus.
How is Filip Kostic doing?
In what condition does Rafael Borré present himself?
The Serbian Kostic, a reliable flank giver on the left flank with a high risk of scoring, can show against his old club VfB that his psychological problems, cited as an excuse for the skipped game in Bielefeld, were only temporary in nature.
With the Colombian Borré it will be interesting to see whether the concerted action of some European clubs to fly in their players from South America pays off.
Actually, the striker would not arrive in Frankfurt until Saturday evening from his national team.
It is questionable whether Borré has the freshness just a few hours later to score his first goal of the season against Stuttgart.
But there is cause for hope, because Borré will be back in Frankfurt on Friday with a specially chartered plane.
This opens up new options for coach Glasner, as he can immediately fall back on newcomer Sam Lammers.
Half a house full?