The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Frankfurt is defeated by Naples in the Champions League: one misstep too many

2023-02-21T23:25:34.544Z


The best team in Italy showed Eintracht their limits in Frankfurt: Napoli's only weakness seems to be penalties. A dismissal against Randal Kolo Muani caused trouble.


Enlarge image

Unhappily kicked the opponent's tackle - and sent off with a red card: Frankfurt's star striker Randal Kolo Muani experienced a used evening

Photo: Michael Probst/AP

Out of step:

Randal Kolo Muani didn't seem to be able to believe it himself when he got up again after a long injury break - and saw that referee Artur Dias held out the red card to him.

A dismissal?

For the striker of Frankfurt Eintracht?

Napoli's André Zambo Anguissa had straddled.

Only he had just hit the ball, but Kolo Muani still pulled through to land with the open sole on the opponent's ankle.

A mistake, sure, but a justifiable red card, which should seal a bitter evening for the SGE just under 30 minutes before the end of the game.

The result:

Eintracht Frankfurt lost 0:2 (0:1) in front of their home crowd against SSC Naples.

For the Hessians, the quarter-finals in the Champions League is a long way off.

Go here for game notification.

A Nobel prize for football:

At the beginning, the atmosphere was still relaxed.

And why not: the European Cup against the leaders in Serie A, the Champions League round of 16 – many a small child becomes a football fan because of such evenings.

Benjamin List, born in 1968, was once one of these children. The native of Frankfurt saw the victory in the Uefa Cup in 1980 live in the stadium.

In 2021, List won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Now he has announced that he wants to invest his medal in the future of one of his favorite players: “Daichi Kamada – if he went, that would break my heart,” said List on Amazon Prime.

Kamada's contract expires in the summer.

"If he stays, I'll give it to him."

The subtle difference:

Then the ball rolled, and for five minutes Eintracht seemed to be able to organize what was happening on the pitch at eye level.

Kolo Muani finished after a fine movement in the penalty area.

Then the team that leads Serie A with a 15-point lead took over: Napoli were safe on the ball, vehement, enthusiastic, and then again and again dangerous after half an hour.

After 35 minutes, the difference between the surprise team and the superior team became clear for the first time.

It would also be too easy:

then when Hirving Lozano – the Hirving Lozano who shot Mexico to victory against Germany at the 2018 World Cup – made a wonderful through ball and smashed the ball against the post.

Luck for Eintracht that didn't last long: while trying to explain the ball, Aurélio Buta made a harbinger of the missteps to come.

Instead of the ball, he hit Victor Osimhen, who rushed up from behind.

Penalty, sure.

But: no goal.

Because hitting from the point is probably the only thing Napoli haven't been able to do this season: after Osimhen and Piotr Zielinski had already missed in the group stage, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia now failed to Kevin Trapp (36th).

The second wave, and the third:

Eintracht was far from off the hook.

Because whoever, like Napoli, scores 20 goals in six group games in the premier class without precision, not only has the means to score goals.

He's also hungry and efficient: Mario Götze's bad pass landed quickly in the center of Osimhen via Lozano, who only had to push in from a short distance (40').

Naples had rolled over the SGE several times in just a few minutes.

Only two minutes later the same combination was repeated, this time an offside whistle from Eintracht came to the rescue.

Was that red?

The second half then turned into a pattern without value at the latest after Kolo Muani was sent off, Frankfurt was lucky that it remained outnumbered against Italians who were sparing their strength in the 0: 2 by Giovanni di Lorenzo (65th), who made a casual hacking presentation by the Kvaratskhelia, already baptized "Kvaradona" in Campania.

The red card, however, caused explosives after the end of the game.

"I find it hard to give a red card in an offensive action," said Götze diplomatically after seeing a yellow card for complaining on the pitch.

Amazon expert Matthias Sammer literally burst at the collar.

"Such an arrogant charisma," Sammer complained about Referee Dias.

"I didn't like the referee anyway."

Now a miracle is needed:

The fabulous journey of Frankfurt Eintracht through Europe should now come to an end in Naples.

"We still have a second game," Götze recalled after the final whistle.

But without the suspended top scorer Kolo Muani on March 15th against one of the continent's most in-form teams, it should be very, very difficult.

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2023-02-21

You may like

Life/Entertain 2024-02-21T22:01:35.082Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.