Eintracht Frankfurt, winners of the Europa League, learned their lesson in the national cup business. At the start of the new football season, the Hessians defeated 1. FC Magdeburg 4-0 on Monday evening. The team of head coach Oliver Glasner, for whom Daichi Kamada (4th and 59th minute), Jesper Lindström (31st) and Lucas Alario (90th) scored twice, reached the second round of the DFB Cup.
What is not a matter of course for the international title holder: Frankfurt have been eliminated in the first main round three times in the past ten years, most recently in 2021 in Mannheim. The second division promoted from Magdeburg, on the other hand, did not become a stumbling block for the favorites, who, on balance, got rid of the mandatory task in a sovereign manner.
The encounter in front of 26,350 spectators was a high-risk game and was therefore accompanied by a large police presence from several federal states. In 2016, when Eintracht had only won on penalties in Magdeburg, there were riots. Tracer bullets were fired into the Magdeburg family block from the Frankfurt side. Afterwards, people from Magdeburg, who were masked, tried to storm the interior. The match was interrupted for more than ten minutes.
On Monday, buffer zones to the right and left of the Eintracht fan block with its more than 2,000 supporters should prevent the incident from happening again. Shortly before the start of the second half, however, flares were fired onto the field from the Frankfurt fan block. The continuation of the game was therefore delayed. After a good 50 minutes, a flare landed in the Magdeburg block. The situation threatened to escalate. Police forces then went to the buffer zone.
Götze shows his fine technique
Back to the sport: There were no surprises in the Frankfurt starting lineup. World champion Mario Götze was the only newcomer on the pitch. The playmaker is carefully built up by coach Oliver Glasner; this time Götze, who had mostly played 45 minutes in the friendlies, lasted 79 minutes. The fine technician showed good approaches in a playful way. Daichi Kamada joined midfield boss Djibril Sow in the sixth position. Sebastian Rode sat on the bench.
Goalkeeper Kevin Trapp led the team onto the pitch as captain. Rafael Borré led the charge; a total of six offensive players with Götze, Lindström, Filip Kostic, Ansgar Knauff and Kamada were on the pitch. Striker Goncalo Paciencia and midfielder Ajdin Hrustic were not included. The Portuguese and the Australian have no prospects in Frankfurt and can look for new employers. Jens Petter Hauge was not there either.
It was a special game for winger Kostic because he played a cup game for the first time in two and a half years due to four suspended games. If Kostic stays with Eintracht and does not move to Italy or England, he will be a member of the team council in the future. A token of appreciation.
The new Eintracht is not the old one
Glasner, who always had a bodyguard from the club in tow, found time for a few selfies with Magdeburg supporters before kick-off. At first he liked what he saw on the pitch. After just four minutes, Kamada gave Eintracht a 1-0 lead, with Kostic doing the preliminary work from the left. Defense boss Tuta showed his bad sporting side a little later, conceding a penalty for fouling Leonardo Scienza.
But Trapp was able to fend off the harmless shot from Andreas Müller, and Leon Bell Bell’s follow-up shot went over the top of the bar. Great luck for the people of Frankfurt. Magdeburg was not discouraged by the missed opportunity. The turbulent second division newcomer could not play out only good scoring chances. Eintracht missed the 2-0 through Knauff, who was unable to convert a nice pass from Götze. Seconds later, however, Lindström made it much better with a sensitive long-range shot and scored to make it 2-0 (31st). The Frankfurters now clearly controlled the events. Again Knauff hit the crossbar of the Magdeburg goal with his shot in added time.
Eintracht had the better scoring chances again with the restart. Kamada increased to 3:0 (59th), four minutes later Borré missed the 4:0 from a promising position. Glasner then changed happily. The new signings Randal Kolo Muani and Alario, who managed to make it 4-0, also received match practice. The new Eintracht of the 22/23 season was not the old one in the cup. This time she saved herself an early embarrassment. That’s good for the demanding task this Friday at home against Bayern Munich.
