Eintracht hoping to finish the deal against dangerous Real Betis
The Eagles will try to keep their good momentum going and join Leipzig in the UEL quarter-finals.
After their third victory in a row and their first one at the Deutsche Bank Park since December, the eagles are flying high in confidence right before the most important match of the season yet.
Both head coach Oliver Glasner and goalkeeper Kevin Trapp were emphatic in the press confidence prior to the fixture, talking about what the last victories have meant for the team in terms of self-confidence and motivation for their Europa League round of 16 return leg against Real Betis.
The win against Bochum also ended a 6-hour drought of game time without scoring a goal at home and solidified even more Eintracht’s starting eleven, the exact same one that has started the last three games and will probably start this Thursday.
No penalties
“Training penalties would mean assuming a defeat”
The Austrian Manager was very clear in the press conference regarding his approach to the return leg: No penalties trained, nothing related to siting back and speculating with the result of the first leg in mind, and keep playing their high intensity, fast-pace direct style of game.
Despite leaving Seville with the feeling that they could have closed the fixture, Eintracht’s middle-high defensive block put Betis in constant pressure situations, forcing the Verdiblancos into making quite odd mistakes and frustrating them throughout the whole game.
The physicality and the intensity shown by Frankfurt rattled Betis. Whenever the Spaniards surpassed the first pressing line, a quick foul would end the advance.
The eagles recovered the ball quite high on the pitch on several occasions and bombarded Claudio Bravo, with his saves allowing Betis to travel to Frankfurt still alive in the fixture.
Filip Kostic and Ansgar Knauff were key running up and down the flanks, reaching the channels and exploiting the backs of a Real Betis’ defense and midfield tired of a season as long as successful for them.
The pair stretched the field in a way the Andalusians could not handle, freeing space in the process for Daichi Kamada and Jesper Lindstrom to occupy behind the lines of the midfielders and into the half-spaces.
This strategy has been proven to be the more effective one throughout the season against Manuel Pellegrini’s squad and it fits perfect the strengths of the SGE.
As said by Glasner himself, the team is going to play its football and pressure the Spanish side. Sitting deep and wait for Real Betis is a dance with the devil.
Change of pieces?
Substituting players or even changing the formation not always means changing the idea. If Eintracht repeat the starting-XI, then it would be the fourth match in thirteen days for those players, added to the hard game this weekend against RB Leipzig, it might prompt a substitution or two.
Trapp and the back three formed by Ndicka, Hinteregger and Tuta are untouchable, along with Kostic. The level shown by Knauff makes it hard to think that Danny Da Costa could enter for the youngster, especially when Betis are having problems through their left flank defensively.
The duo Sow-Jakic has been solid enough, although the inclusion of Rode might be a possibility despite the doubts around his physical condition. This doesn't necessarily mean that one of the duo is staying on the bench.
Against Köln, a club with a relatively similar style of play to Betis, Glasner opted to line up an extra center midfielder, adding Rode to Sow and Jakic.
The ex-Bayern and Dortmund played in a very interesting role, during the high pressing it was him who took Koln’s midfielder dropping to help the center backs on the build-up, forcing Timo Horn to be the extra player in Koln’s passing schemes. On the defensive transition Rode dropped back forming a line of 3 defensive midfielders.
Another option would be adding Christopher Lenz into the defense and pushing Kostic up front, as against Bayern.
However, both alternatives mean that one of the front three would have to give up his place, which seems unlikely. Jesper Lindstrom was the only one of the three in doubt due to the ankle problem he picked up against Bochum until the Austrian manager said he was fit at the press conference.
Betis are coming for all or nothing
The Verdiblancos travel to Frankfurt after returning to victory with a solid one-nil against Athletic Bilbao, keeping up in the fight with Atletico de Madrid and Barcelona for those UCL spots.
Betis will give their all to achieve the comeback, their all-in into the Europa League and sitting comfortable in La Liga knowing that only a disaster would leave them without European competition next season.
Again, Real Betis’ geniuses will be key, leading the team and directing the game. Sergio Canales is playing with a small fracture in a bone on his foot for the last couple of games while Nabil Fekir will give his absolute best knowing it is going to be his last game for the next two weeks after his sending off against Bilbao.
Manuel Pellegrini counts again with Bellerin, who aims to be a starter, but is weakened by the losses of Tello, Guardado and Alex Moreno.
The loss of the latter continues to be a particular headache for the Chilean Manager, as he has to rely on the young ex-Schalke Juan Miranda and winger Aitor Ruibal to cover for the lighting quick full back. Neither of them has convinced.
The loss of Tello and Guardado means a hard blow, both in the lack of quality bodies on the bench and on the mental side as both are players used to this type of situation.
Betis are showing signs that their fitness is declining, understandable for a team that is heading into the game number 45 of their season.
Their starting XI is a bit more of a mystery. It is said Rui Silva will be in goal despite Bravo’s first leg saves while the midfield square of Canales, Carvalho, Fekir and Guido Rodriguez is a certainty. Pezzella and Bartra look like the central defense pair, but the two strikers and the left full back are harder to tell.