Corona, Corona, Corona - the pandemic is the big topic in the Bundesliga at the start of the second half of the season, which makes the sporting aspects take a back seat.

That doesn't necessarily apply before the duel between Frankfurter Eintracht and Borussia Dortmund this Saturday (kick-off at 6.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky).

Only two players on each team cannot play because of an infection.

At BVB they are Dan-Axel Zagadou and the former Frankfurt Marius Wolf.

Eintracht has to do without Danny da Costa and Jesper Lindström, who have tested positive for the Covid 19 virus and are in domestic isolation.

Peter Hess

Sports editor.

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The Frankfurt trainer Oliver Glasner seems relaxed to fatalistic when the talk comes to the restrictions of normal professional operation, the time to get used to the new circumstances was long enough. It is sad that the players have to do their work again this Saturday without an audience in the Frankfurt World Cup stadium, but it is no longer a huge issue for him or in the team. And the fact that he now constantly has to expect that his personnel planning will be thrown through by corona infections does not drive him crazy. "It's all a bit tricky and short-term, but it's not like I'm constantly making plans about what kind of loss I can compensate for and how." After all, the squad is big, good and balanced, so it's not a problem to improvise.

And so there are a few variations to compensate for the loss of Lindström, who was one of the driving forces behind the Frankfurt boom in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Ache, Lammers and Paciencia are available as alternatives for the Dane, whereby none of the three resembles him in the style of play, so that a system change can be assumed. Away from the two "tens" behind Borrè, towards the "tens Kamada" with two strikers in front of it.

Glasner left all personal questions about the attack open and shifted to emphasizing the importance of other things: those of the defensive and those of the attitude.

"Given the quality of the Dortmund offensive, we have to defend very carefully." With which the Austrian did not mean to have asked for excessive caution: "We will certainly not shut ourselves up and hope that it will work out." Glasner has an active defense in mind, a courageous one : “We have to keep BVB busy, put them under pressure and pay attention if they lose the ball, because their counter-pressing is also very good.

But if that succeeds, the Dortmunders are vulnerable, that was shown before Christmas. "

"There is a lot of force and energy"

With which Glasner succeeded in making the smooth transition from defensive behavior to the subject of attitude. “We have to rebuild the mood that was there before Christmas. We were closed, dynamic and hungry. ”He had shown his professionals the“ most beautiful ”situations on video again before Christmas. For him it was Costa's rescue act on the goal line in stoppage time against Leverkusen. “Everyone applauded each other enthusiastically, even though it was already 5: 2 for us and we couldn't lose any more. “We have to keep this punch, because it is useless to wallow in old successes. Everything has to be worked out from scratch. "

The unity also impressed the opponent.

“There will be a lot of force and energy, but also football quality.

They are a good team with good momentum.

We have to be ready, ”coach Marco Rose warned his professionals.

Compared to the Revierklub's 5-2 win in the first leg, the coach expects a lot more resistance: “It will be a completely different game than in the summer.

The Frankfurters have worked out a lot of automatisms over the months and are very stable. "

So a game at eye level?

Eintrachts trainer Glasner can not be lured?

“We have to prove that first.

Borussia Dortmund is already going into a season with different goals than Eintracht Frankfurt.

There will be no big challenge from me.

But we want to win every game. "