The dress rehearsal was very popular everywhere: the Frankfurt Eintracht game against TSG Hoffenheim attracted 50,500 spectators.

A handful of West Ham United analysts also followed the game, which found no winner at 2-2.

What they saw and wrote down should not have contributed to the fact that the players of the "Hammers" will tremble before the semi-final duel this Thursday in London's Olympic Stadium (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Europa League and on RTL). .

Marc Heinrich

sports editor.

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The Hessians showed themselves to be easily predictable in the duties before the freestyle, with defensive inaccuracies and offensive negligence combined to form a surly mixture.

But they can also be different, as the football world now knows.

On the international stage in particular, the team (often in cooperation with their supporters) knows how to stage a thrilling spectacle on the pitch that FC Barcelona was recently unable to cope with.

On Maundy Thursday, Eintracht stormed into the semi-finals in a 3-2 win at the Camp Nou, helped by 25,000 fans who made the away trip a memorable event.

The fact that Xavi, the former midfield impresario of Barça, allowed himself to be misled into not having to have Eintracht scouted extensively in advance was one of the many mistakes that the four-time Champions League winner allowed himself - and each one of them brave Frankfurters into the cards.

West Ham, which means the concentrated observer competence that they sent to the Main for educational work, does not do Eintracht the favor of questioning their performance.

Sow should shut down

Coach Oliver Glasner has a starting line-up option that he was eagerly awaiting: Djibril Sow reported fit and came on again against Hoffenheim in the closing stages.

The Swiss had to sit out Barcelona due to knee problems, after which his colleagues Sebastian Rode and Kristijan Jakic were given the task of intercepting attacks and initiating advances from the sixth position.

The Croatian is now yellow carded, Sow will slip into the starting lineup in his place and should close the center.

“Now there is no tiredness.

Now there is joy, now there is excitement.

The play-offs have been going on for a few weeks, but now the finals are beginning," said Glasner, setting the direction for Sow.

Under the Austrian's tutelage, the 25-year-old, who returned to the Bundesliga from Young Boys Bern in 2019 (after failing to assert himself as a teenager in Mönchengladbach), has brought consistency to his performances at a high level.

The trainer appreciates Sow's good eye at anticipating situations.

His technical skills on the ball allow him to escape from tackles in the tightest of spaces as an escape artist and then move forward at speed.

"Djibril has also developed as a personality," the coach praised the rather quiet professional off the field, who likes to let others (Timothy Chandler or Gonçalo Paciência) go first when it comes to being noticed as a mood cannon.

But that doesn't detract from his standing at Eintracht.

His market value is now estimated at around 20 million euros, with Borussia Dortmund having a vested interest in hiring the Swiss to replace Axel Witsel.

Sow's contract runs until the summer of 2024 and Eintracht would like to extend the cooperation ahead of schedule.

Sow is not a goalscorer

After the loss of André Silva, Glasner's concept, in which Sow plays a leading role, is based on the plan that several shoulders should absorb what the Portuguese previously did on his own.

Glasner demands that, alongside wingers Filip Kostic and Ansgar Knauff, defensive midfielders appear in the penalty area to create presence that creates unrest in the opposing defense and creates opportunities.

The fact that Sow's goal-getting qualities can be improved was shown in the first leg against Barça, when he missed Marc-André ter Stegen by a meter.

Others on the team can do it better.

And setting them up against West Ham is one of the urgent instructions Glasner gave him on the way to his comeback.

Eintracht has big plans in the European Cup, which they last won 42 years ago.

As the chief strategist, Sow should lay the tactical basis in midfield so that she doesn't have to give in just before the goal.