In 1980, Eintracht Frankfurt wins the UEFA Cup. In 1972 Glasgow Rangers won the European Cup Winners' Cup. Now they meet in the Europa League final. Fame and honor beckon, sporting immortality - and millions.
1980: The USA boycotts the Olympic Games for the first time and does not send any athletes to the summer games in Moscow. And Eintracht Frankfurt? The Bundesliga team is in the all-German final of the UEFA Cup against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
2022: The soccer World Cup takes place in Qatar for the first time - and in winter. And Eintracht Frankfurt? The Hessians reach the final of the Europa League for the first time in their club history, meeting the traditional Scottish club Glasgow Rangers in Seville. Eintracht legend Karl-Heinz "Charly" Körbel speaks of a "dream final for football, the fans and Eintracht". In 1980 Eintracht Frankfurt won, defeated Gladbach and took the pot. It is the club's greatest success - to date, because now the SBU could win the successor and thus move into the Champions League for the first time. 42 years
"Eintracht can write history," says Körbel in an interview with ntv.de. The timing couldn't be better. So the ghost games of the coronavirus pandemic are finally over and the fans are back in the stadiums. They have some catching up to do and the mood is correspondingly euphoric. In the Europa League games against Betis Sevilla, FC Barcelona and also against West Ham, the supporters of Eintracht were a decisive factor, the 12th man. Generations will be talking about the "white wall" at Camp Nou.
In Seville, too, tens of thousands of SGE fans will be in the city again. Körbel expects "about 50,000 outside the stadium". Supporters will be a factor again this time - albeit on both sides. Because the Rangers fans will also accompany their team to Seville in their tens of thousands. It could be up to 70,000, as they say. Seville will thus be firmly in Scottish-Hessian hands.
The two fan camps are as vocal as the two clubs are rich in tradition and hungry for titles: Eintracht Frankfurt regained a taste for it after 30 years without a title by winning the German Cup in 2018. The SBU won the last and so far only international pot in 1980. An international triumph for the Rangers is even longer back: In 1972 they won the Cup Winners' Cup. This was followed by numerous national championships and cup victories, but the Scots remained untitled on the big international stage.
Both clubs have been convincing in the previous Europa League season, they put their stamp on it. While Eintracht Frankfurt kicked the big favorites FC Barcelona out of the competition, Rangers sent home two German teams, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, who certainly had ambitions for the pot - after an admittedly weak Champions League group phase. In the end they weren't hot enough for the Europa League - in contrast to Eintracht and Rangers.
The greed for the pot now pays off in hard cash: the loser in the final pocketed four million euros for this one game, the winner can look forward to eight million euros. There are 3.5 million euros for the upcoming Supercup against the Champions League winner. So far, Frankfurt has probably taken around 17 million euros in bonuses and entry fees. Millions more come from the marketing pool. All in all, and ideally, the Frankfurters can expect around 35 million euros from this Europa League season. Since the Hessians were not spared from the Corona crisis either, the money comes at exactly the right time - because once again there is a risk of a medium-sized squad change.
Eleven player contracts expire in 2023. Ordinary transfer fees can only be achieved this summer. Steven Zuber (AEK Athens), Dominik Kohr and Danny da Costa (both Mainz 05) are already leaving the club, bringing five million euros in transfer proceeds. Evan N'Dicka wants to leave and should bring in at least 20 million euros if possible. The future is also uncertain for Daichi Kamada, Ajdin Hrustic and Filip Kostic, but the club coffers could ring again.
A final victory in the Europa League is both a curse and a blessing: if Frankfurt wins, Eintracht will play in the Champions League next season. That is the declared sporting goal for players like Kostic and N'Dicka. At the same time, guaranteed millions flow into the coffers of the club through participation in the premier class. On the one hand, players like Kostic could be retained, but also well-known new ones could be signed.
Currently, the Frankfurters have been successfully active on the transfer market several times, have a striker in Randal Kolo-Muani (12 goals in Ligue 1, FC Nantes) Aurelio Buta as da Costa successor (Royal Antwerp) and Jerome Onguene (Salzburg) obliged for N'Dicka. All free of charge.
As successful as Eintracht was in the Europa League, it was clearly disappointing in the Bundesliga. One reason for this is the lack of squad depth. Should Eintracht win the Europa League and play in the Champions League next season, there is still a lot to do. At the same time, the clubs of courted players are likely to ask for higher transfer fees, along the lines of: Well, you've got it now.
Eintracht Frankfurt is currently surfing on a wave of euphoria. Not only the residents of the Main metropolis or the region keep their fingers crossed for the team. All of Germany suddenly seems to be a fan of the Adler carrier. In 1980 that was not the case. Since Frankfurt had to share fan favor in the final with Mönchengladbach. She still won and made football history. Something she wants to repeat in 2022.
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