FRANKFURT FACT FILE
Tuesday, 29. October 2019, 16:54 Uhr
The games are coming thick and fast as the month of October draws to a close. Just three days after the trip to Heidenheim, the Boys in Brown play host to Eintracht Frankfurt in the second round of the DFB Cup on Wednesday evening (2045 CET). As is our wont, we've taken a closer look at our forthcoming opponents.
"Buffalo herd"
Sebastien Haller, Luka Jovic und Ante Rebic ran opposition defences ragged last season, both in the Bundesliga and the Europa League. The "buffalo herd", to use the name coined by Haller for the attacking trio, scored 57 goals between them in the Bundesliga plus another 16 in the Europa League. Jovic moved to Real Madrid for €60m in summer but has yet to find the target for Los Blancos. Rebic joined AC Milan in a swap deal for André Silva, and he too is yet to register in his new colours. In contrast, things are going much better Haller, who signed for West Ham United for €40m, has already netted four times in the Premier League.
Staying power
Adi Hütter's side contested more competitive fixtures (49) than any of their Bundesliga rivals last term, including a run that took them all the way to the Europa League semi-finals. This season, they had to go through the qualifying rounds to reach the same competition, which means Wednesday's cup-tie at the Millerntor will be their 20th game already in all competitions. In comparison, it will be our 13th outing this season.
More staying power
Perhaps unusually by today's standards, Hütter is not one for rotating. Veteran Makoto Hasebe is seemingly his go-to player. The former Japan captain, 35, has featured in 17 of Eintracht's 19 competitive fixtures to date for a total playing time of 1,530 minutes, narrowly ahead of wide man Filip Kostic (1,512.) and defender Martin Hinteregger (1,403).
Cup wins
The Boys in Brown were stopped in their tracks on the road to Berlin in April 2006 when they lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich at the Millerntor at the semi-final stage. Eintracht, in contrast, have reached the final on eight occasions and won the cup five times, most recently two seasons ago, when they beat Bayern 3-1 to finally lift the trophy again after a 30-year gap. In the list of all-time winners they rank joint-third with FC Schalke 04 behind Bayern (19 wins) and Werder Bremen (6).
Last minute disasters
Werder Bremen are the team we have faced most often in the DFB Cup, the two sides having met on five separate occasions to date. The Boys in Brown have faced Eintracht Frankfurt just the once, on 12 December 1970, a game that was also the first competitive fixture between the two clubs. Frankfurt emerged victorious that day, winning 3-2 after extra-time in front of 12,800 fans at the Millerntor thanks to Horst Heese's 119th minute strike. There has been one other meeting in the DFB Cup, but that was when our second team hosted the Eagles at the Millerntor on 25 August 2001. Once again, it was the visitors who progressed thanks to another late extra-time winner. Ervin Skela converted a penalty – in the 119th minute – in front of 5,500 spectators.
Photo: Witters
