Leverkusen is eliminated: Eintracht fights a brilliant all-or-nothing game

Eintracht Frankfurt defeats Olympique Marseille after a big fight.

Leverkusen is eliminated: Eintracht fights a brilliant all-or-nothing game

Eintracht Frankfurt defeats Olympique Marseille after a big fight. So on the last day of the Champions League everything from group victory to Europa League is possible - or nothing. Bayer Leverkusen is eliminated before the final whistle and still wants to spend the winter in Europe.

The dream of the round of 16 is alive: Eintracht Frankfurt has fought for a final on the magical premier class journey to progress. Coach Oliver Glasner's team won the atmospheric game of destiny against Olympique Marseille 2-1 (2-1) and on the last Champions League match day at Sporting Lisbon they can shoot themselves into the top 16 teams in Europe on their own.

In the Frankfurt cauldron, Daichi Kamada (3rd) and Randal Kolo Muani (27th) scored to win, Matteo Guendouzi (22nd) had equalized in the meantime. With a win in Lisbon on Tuesday, Frankfurt would continue their dream journey in the round of 16, for the Europa League winner anything is still possible from first to fourth place in Group D. Unlike in the first leg, this time it remained largely peaceful in the stands. There had been violent riots with pyrotechnics in Marseille, and an SGE fan was seriously injured.

On the field, Glasner trusted the team that had last won at Borussia Mönchengladbach (3-1) and Bayer Leverkusen (5-1). Only Hrvoje Smolcic replaced the suspended Tuta in the back line. Glasner didn't want to deal with "calculating around" in the competitive group, this "usually led to very little," he said. That was exactly what was felt in his eleven, who got off to a dream start in front of 48,700 fans. Kamada immediately completed the first perfect attack to take the lead. Grippy, passionate and offensively dangerous - this is how the SGE presented itself in the strong initial phase, only the exploitation of chances didn't fit.

World Cup hero Mario Götze (15th), who has legitimate hopes for the tournament in Qatar, and Christopher Lenz (19th) missed the best chances. Marseille came back almost out of nowhere: ex-Herthan Guendouzi's shot from a cross hit the bar. Eintracht continued undeterred, and the shock was immediately followed by the right answer. After a fantastic preparatory work by Götze in front of the eyes of national coach Hansi Flick, Kolo Muani scored a deserved lead at the break in an extremely hard-fought game.

After the change of sides, however, the Hessians came under increasing pressure. The defense wobbled a bit at the beginning and was only able to free itself from some tricky situations with difficulty. With the best chance, Alexis Sanchez (57th) lobbed the ball just wide of the goal. The forces of Glasner's team dwindled, but Eintracht continued to throw everything into the balance. However, the hosts failed to play one of the numerous counterattacks better and to ensure clearer conditions.

Missed the round of 16, the consolation prize is also in great danger: Bayer Leverkusen can only spend the winter in the Europa League internationally. The troubled Bundesliga club only managed to score 2: 2 (2: 1) at the top Spanish club Atlético Madrid after leading twice and can thus only oust the Rojiblancos from third place with support.

Moussa Diaby (9th) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (29th) scored for the team of Spanish coach Xabi Alonso, who has celebrated just one win in his five games as manager at Leverkusen (4-0 on his debut against Schalke) - the trend reversal after the dismissal of Gerardo Seoane, the world champion of 2010 has not yet succeeded either. The Madrilenians, who lost the first leg in the Rhineland, equalized through Yannick Carrasco (22') and Rodrigo de Paul (50') and have third place in Group B themselves.

Even before the kick-off in Madrid, FC Porto's 4-0 win over FC Bruges made it clear that Bayer no longer had a chance of reaching the round of 16 in the premier class. Against Brugge, who are sure to go through, Bayer will have to score more points next Tuesday than Atletico at FC Porto. The Portuguese are also in the next round. Alonso once again had to do without Patrik Schick in the center of attack in Madrid, the Czech EM star was at least on the bench after healed from adductor problems. But even without the goal scorer who was recently looking for form, Bayer started bravely. Robert Andrich conquered the ball against world champion Antoine Griezmann with a robust effort, Adam Hlozek put it through to Diaby, who beat Jan Oblak with a flick.

After that, Atletico, currently third in La Liga, improved significantly and earned the equalizer against increasingly passive Leverkusen. Carrasco's long-range shot hit flat. Lukas Hradecky had no chance. And Diego Simeone's team pushed for the second goal - but the table-15 succeeded. in the Bundesliga: Again, the goal was preceded by winning the ball deep in the opponent's half, this time it was Nadiem Amiri who set up Hudson-Odoi on loan from Chelsea. For the young Englishman it was the first goal in a Bayer shirt.

After the change of sides, Simeone prescribed total forward drive for his team. Bayer couldn't get the ball out of the danger zone, and Rodrigo de Paul, who had just come on as a substitute, scored with a flick. The Estadio Metropolitano was there now, and so was the home team. Griezmann (58th, 60th, 81st) tested Hradecky in series. At least in the final minutes of the game, Bayer was able to provide some relief with a counterattack.