When Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner returns to his old workplace in Wolfsburg this Sunday (7.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and DAZN), he sees himself well prepared for task number five in the Bundesliga.

The 47-year-old Austrian, who only managed to collect three points with the Frankfurt team on the first four days of the match, played the Wolfsburg Champions League opener at Lille last Tuesday to get in the mood for the game that was “personally special” for him from 7.30 p.m. OSC (0: 0) watched on TV.

Jörg Daniels

Editor in the sports department

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On the one hand as "preparation" because the time until the national test of strength with the Bundesliga leaders is relatively short.

Glasner reported that he had "known every player from the previous season" from the Wolfsburg starting lineup.

“In this game I didn't see any huge differences in the behavior of the team from my time.

I know how Wolfsburg plays, ”said the Frankfurt coach.

He was also "naturally interested in how the VfL players fare in the Champions League".

Broken relationship with Schmadtke 

He is still in contact with part of the team, Glasner said there were many players on Friday. He had "wished them all the best" beforehand, as they would have had a very successful time together. The old bond was one thing. Of course, in his own interest, the Eintracht coach also paid attention to “where we can start on Sunday, where the Wolfsburg team have a bit of problems”. For him, the Wolfsburg are once again an "absolute candidate for the Champions League places". Now under the new trainer Mark van Bommel.

When asked by a journalist whether Glasner had written a congratulatory SMS to the Wolfsburg managing director Jörg Schmadtke after the Champions League game, the Austrian parried with quick-wittedness.

"You didn't win," he said and grinned.

Glasner knew that the question was an allusion to his employment relationship with Schmadtke.

Despite the mutual success, this was ultimately considered to be shattered.

Among all VfL coaches, Glasner achieved the second-most points in the first division.

In November of last year, Glasner had criticized the Wolfsburg transfer policy.

That should apparently have finished the relationship with Schmadtke.

They only discussed the bare essentials.

Sports director Marcel Schäfer said that he had to act as an intermediary between Schmadtke and Glasner.

The managing director does not want to avoid Glasner on this Sunday.

Should both meet, he would greet Glasner as normal and wish him all the best, Schmadtke announced and added: "As with any other coach." .

Rather, his job is to "be successful".

That was Schmadtke with coach Glasner, who had led Wolfsburg back into the Champions League after five years with fourth place, definitely.

Nevertheless, the Austrian left Lower Saxony a year before his contract expired on July 1, 2022.

Hinteregger "bites your teeth"

Glasner once described his relationship with the Wolfsburg managing director as "sober". At his presentation in Frankfurt, the coach said that he was grateful to VfL and Schmadtke “that they gave us the chance in the Bundesliga”. He had already forgotten everything else. Glasner repeated the aspect of gratitude on Friday. “I took a lot with me in Wolfsburg about German football and the German mentality,” he said, downplaying the importance of seeing Schmadtke again.

"The game on Sunday will not be decided by me or Schmadtke, but by the players." On the Eintracht side, there are two small and medium-sized question marks behind the use of left-back Christopher Lenz (muscular problems) and captain Martin Hinteregger, according to the coach. Hinteregger suffered the injury on Thursday evening in a 1-1 draw in the Europa League at home against Fenerbahce Istanbul. Glasner indicated that Hinteregger might “bite his teeth” according to his nature. "He won't let himself be put off by a shoulder injury," said the trainer.

There was also potential for conflict in Wolfsburg between Glasner's relationship with one or the other player. Captain Josuha Guilavogui announced afterwards that he was glad that Glasner was "gone". Despite the dissatisfaction of the past, the coach is looking forward to his return. For the first win of the season with Eintracht, it now needs "an almost perfect performance" from Frankfurt in Wolfsburg.