With or without fans: The Bundesliga trio wants to continue to be successful in the Europa League. All three clubs have a good chance of reaching the quarter-finals. Even if it is completely unclear whether and how this will be carried out.
Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - Football festivals with fans in Frankfurt and Glasgow, ghost backdrop in Wolfsburg.
Despite the many questions in view of the widening corona crisis, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg want to get a good starting position in the first legs of the Europa League round of 16 on Thursday. Frankfurt and Leverkusen in particular want to enjoy the normal atmosphere with spectators in the stands again, before all the Bundesliga matches are played away from the public on weekends.
"We can assume that tomorrow will be the last game in front of our own spectators. Nice that we can enjoy it again," said Eintracht coach Adi Hütter before the game against Swiss runners-up FC Basel (18.55 / DAZN) . European Cup games are "always something special" in Frankfurt, emphasized Hütter on Wednesday. This applies particularly to the game against Basel.
While the Frankfurt Bundesliga game against Gladbach will also take place on Sunday as a ghost game, the Hessians are allowed to play again in the Europa League with the approval of the Frankfurt Health Office. "We are of course happy that the game will take place," said Eintracht board member Axel Hellmann. 47,000 tickets were sold for the game - and the Frankfurters hope for a great setting. "Everyone is motivated to the tips of their hair," reported midfielder Djibril Sow.
Bayer Leverkusen can also look forward to an atmospheric atmosphere. In the Ibrox Stadium, which is known for its great atmosphere, the Rhinelands compete with the Glasgow Rangers (9:00 p.m. CET / RTL and DAZN). But nobody really knows what Bayer expects. Trainer Peter Bosz and sports director Simon Rolfes never played in the Ibrox in their long career as a professional and official. Sports director Rudi Völler's only experience as a player with Olympique Marseille was almost 28 years ago. But this was all the more emphatic. "This is a great stadium with fanatic fans," said Völler. "It won't be any different today than it was then. You will celebrate every single attack. It is important that we accept the conditions."
Of 22 European Cup games at the Rangers stadium, German teams have won only three. Rangers coached by Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard have been unbeaten for 17 European home games. "I never played there myself, but the atmosphere is certainly fantastic," said Rolfes. Bosz added: "Playing in the Ibrox is sure to be great. I have never played in Scotland and I am really looking forward to it." The return leg a week later in Leverkusen will definitely be a ghost game.
In Wolfsburg this is already the case on Thursday. The game against Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine (9:00 p.m. / DAZN) will be played without spectators due to the corona crisis. "From a purely sporting point of view, I find this unpleasant. But if I consider that as a citizen of this country, it is essential to take the health of the population into account," said Wolfsburg managing director Jörg Schmadtke on Wednesday. "I don't think there should have been any other decision."
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