When the next round of the European Cup is drawn shortly before Christmas in Nyon, it has always been something of a mess.
At the end of the year, there is great anticipation for the upcoming opponent in the new year.
Good for those who, thanks to their athletic performance, have managed to secure a place in the pot with the balls.
Eintracht Frankfurt will not be there this Monday (1 p.m.).
But that doesn't spoil the mood at the Bundesliga club a bit - on the contrary.
The European Football Union has also changed the mode with the introduction of the Europa Conference League as the third competition.
Tobias Rabe
Responsible editor for Sport Online.
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The 16 teams in the second round of the Europa League will now consist of the winners of eight playoff games and the eight first in the group stage. After the 1-1 draw at Fenerbahce Istanbul on Thursday evening, Eintracht is also part of it and saves the playoff elimination in the spring. When eight tickets are played on February 17 and 24, the Frankfurters can improve and rest in training. It's the reward for a strong group stage. In the six duels with the Turks, Olympiacos and Royal Antwerp, there were three wins and three draws.
So Eintracht can now wait to see who will prevail and will not be back in a lottery pot until the end of February.
Had they been overtaken by Piraeus, who lost their final game in Antwerp 1-0, and had come in second, a relegated Champions League would have waited in the playoffs.
FC Barcelona, FC Porto or FC Sevilla would have been big chunks, duels with Leipzig and Dortmund would not have been possible due to the regulations.
Only then can it go against teams from the same country.
The Frankfurters are spared all of this.
Özil 90 minutes on the bench
The Eintracht convoy was correspondingly happy the evening after the game in Istanbul, which took place without the support of their own fans. Djibril Sow scored the lead (29th minute), Mergim Berisha (42nd) equalized. Nothing more happened. "We are very happy that we are in the round of 16," said coach Oliver Glasner. “I'm very happy with the first half, I think we put in a really good performance. Only the result was not right. In the second half, both teams felt they had a non-aggression pact. But we controlled the game. ”Overall, it was“ a fantastic Europa League season so far. ”
Markus Krösche analyzed similarly: “We are right in the round of 16. If someone had told us before the group stage, we would have signed it immediately. The boys did very well in the first half. It was difficult for both teams in the second half. But of course we are happy, "said the sporting director of Eintracht. “We scored a very nice goal and didn't allow much. We then go into halftime with a draw unnecessarily. But on the whole you have to compliment the team. "
Timothy Chandler was more emotional: “It's an incredible feeling. We really dominated the first half, we could have scored more goals, then the game would have been easier. In the end we drew and went through the group first. That's the most important thing, ”he said. “We had top teams. With Piraeus and Fenerbahce Champions League contenders were there. We went through unbeaten, and I think we deserved it because we played great games. "Gonçalo Paciência is missing from the first leg of the last 16, but was still happy:" We were the best team in the group. "
This also applied to the game on Thursday in the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, which was weakly occupied by 15,000 fans. In the first half in particular, the Frankfurt team dominated their opponent, for whom it was already clear beforehand that there was no longer any chance of advancing. The former German international Mesut Özil was therefore not used at all. He probably wouldn't have had a lot of fun anyway, since Eintracht in particular played forward. She had some good chances, but only used one when Sow, who had already scored against Union Berlin in the Bundesliga, deliberately pushed in in the penalty area.
The Frankfurters could get over that that wasn't enough to win.
A photo was taken together on the lawn to record the successful European conclusion in 2021 for posterity.
There are still three Bundesliga tasks waiting until Christmas, at home against Leverkusen on Sunday, on Wednesday in Mönchengladbach, before Mainz comes to the Frankfurt Arena on December 18.
The Europa League will not continue until March 10th.
First there is an away task, this round will be decided a week later in Frankfurt.
Then big names like Barcelona or Seville could also be waiting.
The anticipation is great.