Bochum scored a total of five goals in the first eight Bundesliga games. Eintracht allows three. The house blessing is crooked before the big challenge in the Champions League.
Bochum (dpa/lhe) – A quarrel between goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and Tuta on the lawn, a 0: 3 defeat at the hitherto victorious bottom VfL Bochum, a pretty pissed and hapless coach. It couldn’t have been much worse for Eintracht Frankfurt before the Europa League winner’s important Champions League game on Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN) at Tottenham Hotspur. “Perhaps one or the other success went a bit too quickly. We’ll talk about that,” announced coach Oliver Glasner after the unsuccessful Bundesliga Saturday.
The game will have an aftermath, especially for the Brazilian defender Tuta. “I don’t know what was going on there,” said Glasner in the Sky interview. “We will definitely address this internally.” Trapp grabbed the unsure-looking Tuta in the 70th minute and talked him into it. The 23-year-old broke free and on TV it looked like he was trying to get his goalkeeper in the face. When the game was interrupted shortly afterwards, the two brawlers hugged. Tuta then looked bad at 0:1 by Philipp Hofmann.
Glasner said he would speak to Trapp and Tuta. “There will be clear words.” The Austrian has already defended his international goalkeeper: “It’s good when Kevin yells at the lads when something doesn’t fit. It’s also very important that you let experienced players tell you something.”
In any case, the supposed mandatory task at the bottom of the table could not be solved for the weak Eintracht. Instead of extending the series of four competitive games without defeat and traveling to London with a head full of confidence, the Frankfurt team went under in the final stages of Bochum. Hofmann’s opening goal (71st minute) was followed by an own goal by Evan Ndicka (87th) and the 3-0 by Philipp Förster (90th 4). Before conceding the first goal, Rafael Borré had hit the post.
“Attitude, duels, footballing skills – everything was missing. We played a really bad game. We have to do better on Wednesday,” said sporting director Markus Krösche. In the first leg against Tottenham (0-0), these qualities distinguished Frankfurt. But this time: “We weren’t good, we weren’t there.”
It was also bitter for Eintracht to realize that Glasner’s switch to a four-man defense and the absence of aces like Makoto Hasebe (not in the squad) or Sebastian Rode and Daichi Kamada (substitute bench) didn’t work out. “We want to rotate and change, but we also have to manage not only to play well against Tottenham, but also to perform well in Bochum,” said Krösche. Before the premier class second leg, Frankfurt is level on points with second-placed Tottenham (4 points each) after the first three games in Group D. Sporting Lisbon (6) is top of the group and Olympique Marseille (3) bottom.
