In the past few days, there has been a reminder in Frankfurt.
Of the magical nights of the big European Cup campaign of the 2018/2019 season.
In terms of sport, things went wonderfully, only in the semifinals against Chelsea did the unfortunate end on penalties come.
And the huge choreographies at the start of the home games made for unforgettable images.
The pandemic made sure things didn't go on forever.
Two years ago, the round of 16 against Basel became a dreary ghost game.
Eintracht lost 3-0 without a spectator and were quietly eliminated in the second leg five months later.
Tobias Rabe
Responsible editor for Sport Online.
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Corona is not over, still not nearly 50,000 fans are allowed to come to the home games in the arena in the city forest.
On Thursday evening only half of the seats were allowed to be occupied in the round of 16 second leg against Real Betis from Seville.
And even without an impressive intro by the Ultras, Eintracht's European Cup history now has another chapter richer that many will remember for a long time.
This time it was mainly due to the sporting drama on the pitch.
A goal in added time in extra time ensured Frankfurt's progress.
There were two reasons why things got this far, one general and one specific.
With the start of this European Cup season, an old rule has been abolished.
Goals in away games no longer have a special value.
When the first and second leg is over, it is simply added up.
Until recently, the 2-1 victory in Spain and the 0-1 draw at home after 90 minutes would have ensured that Eintracht would have reached the quarter-finals without extra time.
But now everything was different - and the nerve-wracking spectacle with great feelings took its course.
Extension in Frankfurt
In the first leg, Eintracht failed to turn the good base into a very good one.
The Bundesliga club in Andalusia didn't take advantage of numerous excellent scoring chances, Rafael Borré even missed a penalty.
In the second duel, Eintracht noticed that they had something to lose.
It wasn't a rush, but a controlled performance against traditionally ball-safe and technically fine Spaniards.
The best chance of the first half was missed by Ansgar Knauff, whose ball hit the crossbar (14th minute).
A free-kick cross from Filip Kostic hit the cross corner of the goal in the second half (63').
But Betis didn't become any less dangerous with the pressing time either.
Juanmi's header defused Kevin Trapp in flight (65th).
And while Borja Iglesias initially aimed over the goal from a reserve position (87th), in the last minute of regular time after a sharp cross from Nabil Fekir, he was more on the ball with his toe than Evan Ndicka and pointed the ball to make it 0:1 Frankfurt gate.
Everything balanced again in the duel between the ninth in the Bundesliga table and the fifth in La Liga.
So it went into overtime.
And the drama should be taken to the extreme.
In the second half of extra time, a deflected shot by Diego Lainez landed on the head of Iglesias, who was free but only hit the crossbar of the Eintracht goal from a few meters away.
And then came the 121st minute.
A Kostic free-kick landed in a tangle of Martin Hinteregger, Sevilla goalkeeper Rui Silva and Guido Rodriguez.
And from there the ball bounced past the goalkeeper who was punching past and into the goal – 1:1 and progress for Frankfurt.
The ecstasy knew no bounds, coach Oliver Glasner and the substitutes were suddenly on the pitch.
It will take Frankfurter to process the emotional state of emergency.
"I'm still totally flashed by the emotions.
The game offered everything that Euro-Eintracht stands for,” said the visibly happy Glasner at the midnight press conference.
"You only experience that in football," said the coach, who came before the season and only knew Eintracht's legendary European Cup evenings from television and stories from Frankfurt: "In the 90th minute, the world of football collapses.
And in the 120th minute it's pink again."
This was mainly due to the use of Hinteregger, who recklessly threw himself into Kostic's cross ball and was lucky that nothing happened to his health and the play equipment somehow bounced towards the goal.
The European Football Union later interpreted the 1-1 as Rodriguez's own goal, but that didn't really matter on this evening of great emotions.
“Martin forced it with everything he had.
He even risked injury.
I'm happy for him because he had a few difficult months," said Glasner of his Austrian compatriot, who is getting back on form.
Goalkeeper Trapp has been in Frankfurt for a long time and has taken part in the dream trips through Europe.
Such a sporting drama with ups and downs in the last few minutes like on Thursday is new to him too.
"You can't beat that in terms of emotions and everything that comes with it," said Trapp.
Newcomer Ansgar Knauff had a similar experience: "It's just a great feeling, these are the days, the games, the nights for which you play football." And Djibril Sow said on RTL: "We really have this spirit in Europe and I think we can go far with that.”
After a short night, Eintracht waits for another extension on Friday (1.30 p.m.) before everyday life in the Bundesliga continues with the game in Leipzig on Sunday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN).
Quarter- and semi-finals of the Europa League will be drawn in Nyon.
In addition to Frankfurt and Leipzig, there are Atalanta Bergamo, who knocked out Leverkusen, FC Barcelona, West Ham United, Olympique Lyon, Sporting Braga and Glasgow Rangers.
Who will it be?
Glasner has only one wish: "I would prefer not to get Leipzig."