Djibril Sow is currently feeling like a skywalker in Frankfurt.

He has "a run and is floating on a cloud," said the Swiss international after the breathtaking 5-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Behind the defensive midfielder there is a steep climb from a sporty point of view.

At the soccer gala against Bayer on Sunday, Sow scored a spectacular goal from a distance to make it 5-2 (76th minute).

His precise pass to Jesper Lindstrøm was also a dream pass, which the Dane finished worthily with a 2-2 (30th).

Jörg Daniels

Editor in the sports department

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And on Thursday, Sow also played a major role in Eintracht's direct entry into the second round of the Europa League: he scored the opening goal in the 1-1 draw against Fenerbahce Istanbul.

On Sunday in Frankfurt, the stadium announcer spoke of “our new goal machine Djibril Sow”.

That was "a bit exaggerated", said the highly acclaimed afterwards and suspected a portion of "irony" in it.

But after that the announcer did not listen.

It sounded like a lot of respect.

Because even in the home game against Union Berlin (2-1) at the end of November, Sow was one of the goalscorers.

For a long time, the midfield clearer Sow complained about a downturn in his game.

Graduating didn't seem like his thing.

It's hard to believe when you've seen his technically demanding goal, a brilliant flick, against Leverkusen.

Sow recently got tips from Frankfurt striker Alex Meier.

The current junior coach at Riederwald advised the Swiss player to try “not with the instep, but with the inside - just like with his great shots in training”.

And suddenly the willing to learn Sow is in great shape even in an emergency.

“I used to be too hasty to graduate.

This time I stayed calm and did it with the inside, ”said Sow about his goal to make it 5-2.

"Passes into flesh and blood"

With every hit, his self-confidence increases. His appearance against Leverkusen was Sow's best game in the Eintracht jersey, which he has been wearing since summer 2019. He tirelessly drove his team on with a huge radius of action. Racked and fought. Stole the balls from the opponent and then pushed them forward according to plan. Sow, who owed the penalty to make it 0-2 with a handball, was in the front row of the Frankfurt mentality monsters, who with their force and dynamism slowed down the Leverkusen cool. "Eintracht has completely eaten us up," said Bayer professional Robert Andrich, stunned. The hunger for success has allowed the Frankfurters to move up to ninth place in the table. Up to sixth place there are now only two points behind.

The Frankfurt upswing, which reached its preliminary climax with the performance explosion against Leverkusen, is closely linked to the name Sow in the sixth position. Coach Oliver Glasner saw his new goal threat coming. “You can see how it was in the years before with the teams I coached. The sixes always scored one goal or the other, ”said the Austrian. “There are certain mechanisms that players have seen very often in the past few months, especially via videos. At some point it becomes part of the flesh and blood. "

Kristijan Jakić, who is the man at Sow's side on the pitch and who was also successful in the duel with Bayer, is also determined on the advance: the volley shot by the Croatian international to make it 4-2 (66th) was no less classy at the end . It was Jakić's first competitive match. For sports director Markus Krösche, the Croat and Sow form the "heart of the team". Their coordination is “getting better and better. Working together, you have developed a good feeling for one another. They grow together very well, ”said Krösche.

Jakić and Sow, who spoke of a "huge effort" against Leverkusen, literally march in front.

Both cover around twelve kilometers per game over 90 minutes.

Sow has a total of almost 170 kilometers this season, which is second in the league behind Manuel Prietl from Bielefeld.

The list of goalscorers is unlikely to take Sow by storm.

"You don't have to expect me to score every game," he said.