Is Eintracht Frankfurt still losing the Champions League after all? An analysis

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Frankfurt's Timothy Chandler looks rather unhappy after the Mainz game

Photo: FRIEDEMANN VOGEL / POOL / EPA

Less than four weeks ago, the future looked brilliant in Frankfurt.

After victories against direct competition from Wolfsburg (4: 3) and Dortmund (2: 1), Eintracht was on course for the Champions League.

The team around coach Adi Hütter dreamed of qualifying for the premier class for the first time in the club's history.

Four game days later, Eintracht gambled away seven points ahead of Dortmund.

After the 1-1 draw against FSV Mainz 05, the Frankfurters are now one point behind BVB, they can no longer reach the Champions League on their own two game days before the end of the season.

Since coach Adi Hütter announced that he would change clubs, Eintracht has hardly scored any points.

But Hütter's departure is not the only reason for the current weak phase: The team is having a particularly difficult time with opponents who are low.

The Hütter factor

On April 13th, Hütter announced his move to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The results since then: a 4-0 defeat against Hütters future club, a less than convincing 2-0 win over Augsburg, a 3-1 defeat against Leverkusen and now a late 1-1 against Mainz.

Those responsible in Frankfurt never tire of dismissing the change of coach as a minor matter.

The players are professionals, and after all, they played for themselves. However, the timing of the crisis in earnings to the announcement of the change of coach cannot be dismissed out of hand.

The trainer, who was not particularly talkative anyway, has seemed even more reserved since then.

After the 1-1 draw against Mainz, he told ARD that this season his team had "partly over the conditions, but certainly at the upper limit" of what was possible.

That is certainly not wrong, but given the playful starting position, the timing of such a statement could hardly have been more weird.

A combative trainer sounds different.

The Younes factor

For weeks the Frankfurters scored as long as the coach only marginally changed his starting lineup.

Success came after the coach switched to a 3-4-3.

Amin Younes and Daichi Kamada swirled in tenth behind striker André Silva.

Most recently, however, Hütter had broken with this trunk variant.

Luka Jovic, who was on loan from Madrid, made it into the starting line-up.

Younes had to make way after a yellow card suspension and minor injuries.

In the past four games, the national player only managed 75 minutes out of a possible 360.

The problem: Without Younes, the Frankfurt system is much more predictable.

You find it difficult to transition from your own building game to the last third.

Younes made this transition easier with his dribbles and clever positioning.

He also stood out against Mainz - after being substituted on in the 65th minute.

His presence would have been good for the game before.

Hütter said that Younes is currently not one hundred percent fit.

The tactic factor

The lower the opponent is, the more likely Younes is missing.

In the newly formed 3-4-1-2 system, Eintracht can no longer crack defensive opponents.

Against Mainz, the Frankfurters collected over 70 percent of the ball possession, but only came to 14 deals, of which only three went on goal.

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Hütter will move to Mönchengladbach in the summer

Photo: KAI PFAFFENBACH / AFP

Not for the first time the Frankfurt failed to play off a deep opponent.

Even against Mönchengladbach (63 percent ball possession) and FC Augsburg (60 percent) they were unable to convert their shares into chances.

The building game of the Frankfurters seems cumbersome.

Against Mainz it took a while before the ball was passed from one side to the other.

Eintracht only became dangerous after a long shift to Filip Kostic - and after Younes was substituted on.

He prepared the equalizer by (also substituted) Ajdin Hrustic.

It is no longer in control of harmony

The draw hurts especially from a tabular point of view.

Frankfurt must now hope for a mistake by Borussia Dortmund or VfL Wolfsburg.

However, Borussia recently won five competitive games in a row.

Wolfsburg, on the other hand, is three points ahead of Frankfurt and has a significantly better goal difference.

In contrast to Frankfurt, it convinced in the 3-0 win against Union Berlin at the weekend.

Frankfurt still meets the already relegated Schalke and Freiburg.

This remaining program should give hope, at least actually.