The shortest route back to Europe is via London, Frankfurt and Seville.

Three cities, one big goal: winning the Europa League.

It is not impossible for Eintracht to make this dream come true.

In any case, it would be the quickest and safest way to be back in the European Cup next season - and if successful even in the Champions League, which would be an extraordinary thing in the history of the club founded in 1899.

Qualifying again through the Bundesliga bread-and-butter business is much more difficult, almost hopeless.

But the door is open just a crack.

Everything, really everything, has to fit.

Sequentially.

Ralph Weitbrecht

sports editor.

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One thing is undisputed: Eintracht itself must make advance payments.

All four remaining Bundesliga games must be won.

To start with, the penultimate home game this Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) against TSG Hoffenheim, who are also aiming for Europe.

Then follows the difficult away test on May 2nd in the evening under floodlights at Bayer-Kreuz against Leverkusen, before the following Sunday the former Eintracht coach Adi Hütter presents himself with the fickle Mönchengladbachers at the old place of work in Frankfurt.

For the Bundesliga final on May 14, the fans will then travel by ship, S-Bahn or car to Mainz, which is in the Rhine-Main neighbourhood.

And that's the end of a Bundesliga season that has gone so far as disappointing.

Sports director Markus Krösche said in the middle of the week that "we are not at all satisfied with our performance in the league".

Eintracht can do more.

It can certainly tap into the potential that has made it an unbeaten power in Europe.

But she doesn't do it.

"We also have to allow our players weak phases," said Krösche.

In order to say goodbye to this year's Bundesliga season with decency and perhaps still make it into the Conference League, for example, coach Oliver Glasner's team has to stretch enormously.

"We can and want to achieve a lot," said the coach to get in the mood for "four fantastic weeks", starting with the duel with Hoffenheim.

"I told the team that we should look ahead and check off everything that was."

The biggest sticking point why Eintracht is currently only tenth in the table is the many sobering performances in their own stadium.

"We just didn't win enough home games," complained Krösche.

In the corresponding overview, Eintracht is on the relegation place, because of the 15 matches played in the Frankfurt Arena so far, only four have been won, but six have been lost.

There were five draws.

Only Bielefeld and Greuther Fürth, the two teams that are currently at the bottom of the table, are worse than Eintracht in their home record.

Victories are needed.

According to the current status, the leap in quality to seventh place in the table could open the door to Europe for Eintracht.

For this, however, the following condition must be met: If the DFB Cup winner, i.e. either RB Leipzig or Sportclub Freiburg, qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League via the league, the sixth in the table in the Europa League and the seventh would also be there qualified for the Conference League playoffs.

Seventh place is also enough for the conference league playoffs if sixth in the table takes the trophy.

Freiburg is currently fifth with four points ahead of Union Berlin - and the clearly better goal difference.

Given the current situation and the many imponderables in the league business, there is probably only one sure way to win the Europa League.

A topic that, despite the focus on the Bundesliga core business demanded by Glasner, is naturally buzzing around in the heads of Frankfurt.

Two semi-finals on April 28th and May 5th against West Ham United, a possible final on May 18th in Seville: Eintracht really does have four “fantastic” weeks ahead.