Eintracht coach Hütter: 50:50 chance against Salzburg

Last year's semi-finalist Eintracht Frankfurt also wants to continue the success story in the Europa League against RB Salzburg. The Hessians also draw hope from two changes in personnel at their opponents.

Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - Eintracht Frankfurt once again relies on the magic of the Europa League, home strength and its own fans. "Thursday is Eintracht day," said sports director Bruno Hübner before the first knockout round game on Thursday (6:55 p.m. / DAZN) against RB Salzburg.

Despite the 0: 4 defeat in the Bundesliga game at Borussia Dortmund on Friday, the semi-finalists of last year are confident that they will be able to celebrate a football festival again.

"I'm sure we'll give a different picture," said coach Adi Hütter, referring to the BVB game. The three wins and one draw for the start of the new year are decisive for him. "I believe that our strong start to the second leg has turned the tide again," said Hütter and spoke of a 50:50 chance. Even more so, he hopes to be able to lay the foundation for the knockout stages in the first game: "If we play zero or win with one or two goals, that's a good starting position."

Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp believes that this will succeed and that you can build on the success of last season. "We have seen what this competition triggers among players and spectators," said the national keeper. "The Europa League has an electrifying effect on the club and its surroundings. We want to draw attention to ourselves again beyond Germany."

Optimism is strengthened by the fact that the Austrian champions sold two top players during the winter break in Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) and Takumi Minamino (Liverpool). The new BVB striker Haaland also contributed to Eintracht's 0: 4. "We can be a bit happy about his move," said Frankfurt striker Goncalo Paciencia ahead of the game in Dortmund. "Now we are not playing a second time in the Europa League against him."

Despite the personal bloodletting of Salzburg and the recent home loss to Linz's ASK (2: 3), sports director Fredi Bobic warns against underestimating the opponent. "They have a lot of good players who have moved up. It's a very strong, good team," said Bobic. Hütter also expects strong Salzburgers despite the winter sales. "They may be faster in the game forward, even better in the pressing."

It remains to be seen whether he will counter this with a chain of four, as in previous games, or switch to a chain of three. Since Martin Hinteregger (yellow card suspension) is missing as the central figure of the four-variant, Hütter should rather choose the three-way solution.

For the Austrian Eintracht head coach, the games against Salzburg - the second leg will be played in a week - are an encounter with the past. The 50-year-old, who lives near Salzburg, experienced joy and sorrow at his ex-club. In March 1994, with two goals, he played a key role in ensuring that Eintracht's predecessor SV Casino Salzburg failed in the European Cup. Despite his double wins, he did not leave the club amicably as a coach in 2015 because the most talented players were sold even then. Nevertheless, he looks back on the time in a conciliatory way: "After that, I went abroad and now I'm sitting here in Frankfurt."

Eintracht squad

game schedule

UEFA press kit

RB Salzburg official website

Preview on eintracht.de