“We want to be more compact” | OneFootball

Interim coach Dennis Schmitt and captain Robin Koch on facing Qarabağ FK in the Champions League, team news and Eintracht’s approach to the game.

Following three Bundesliga fixtures at the start of 2026, Eintracht now turn their attention to UEFA Champions League duties, eager for victory away to Qarabağ FK on Wednesday evening to stay in contention for a place in the knockout phase play-offs.

At the pre-match press conference, interim coach Dennis Schmitt and Robin Koch gave their thoughts on … 

… the situation after the change of head coach

Robin Koch: “I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Dino [Toppmöller] on behalf of the team for the very successful two and a half years together at Eintracht Frankfurt. We had a lot of fun and the atmosphere was good. I spoke with him on behalf of the team, but wanted to mention it here again. Unfortunately that’s just the way it goes in football sometimes. As a team we now have to look forward because we’ve got some really important games coming up.”

Robin Koch: “We’ve recently made the wrong decisions in a lot of different situations. That opens up gaps and pulls the team out of shape, which forces you to chase after the ball and you give the opposition a lot of space to work in. It’s a matter for the team as a collective. We’ve worked on it in training to have some video footage to look at afterwards. We’ve worked on it.”  

… team news

Dennis Schmitt: “We’ve got three very good goalkeepers that we can rely on, but of course Kaua Santos will play between the posts. Rasmus Kristensen hurt his nose a bit but he’s not the kind of person to let that affect him, so he’s available and will play with a mask. We weren’t able to register the winter signings, but otherwise everyone else is on board and has trained very well.”

Robin Koch: “We haven’t had much time, so we have to approach it accordingly. Just as Dennis did - with very good energy.”

… Eintracht’s approach

Dennis Schmitt: “We’ll try to be much more compact and to maintain shorter distances between the different areas of the team. The system or defensive formation doesn’t play a role in that. We have to protect our centre-backs and goalkeeper so that they contest far fewer one-on-ones. It’s about winning possession and being active and brave when we don’t have the ball. We want to keep the opposition on their toes. Fundamentally, I prefer to focus on things we can control, which is our own performance.” Robin Koch: “We won’t be able to perform a 180 degree turn overnight, and we don’t have to either. We just need to tweak a few small things and optimise others. If we wanted to reinvent football from scratch, there simply wouldn’t be enough time. That’s how we’re approaching the game, and it’s the right way to do so.”