Preview – Everything to play for | OneFootball

Eintracht are at home to Tottenham on Thursday evening at Deutsche Bank Park, and are just 90 minutes away from making it through to the semi-finals of the Europa League.

The situation

So we meet again, one week on... The quarter-final first leg in London ended in a 1-1 draw, leaving everything to play for ahead of the return match. Both teams had their moments at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and now we move on to Deutsche Bank Park, with Eintracht enjoying home advantage (kick-off: 17 April, 21:00 CEST). “The most important thing for us is to be on the ball right from the word go this Thursday, and I can guarantee you that we definitely will be,” said head coach Dino Toppmöller.

Contrasting fortunes Last weekend, Tottenham went down to a 4-2 defeat away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, with head coach Ange Postecoglou making six changes to the team that started against Eintracht the previous Thursday. The Eagles, on the other hand, made just three changes to their starting XI and cruised to a 3-0 win over Heidenheim.

“Put them under pressure”

“We need to impose ourselves in the right way in the one-on-ones, and let them know right from the kick-off that we give no quarter here on our home turf in the Europa League,” said CEO Axel Hellmann. “We need to have the right mindset. The atmosphere in the ground will be loud and overwhelming, and our fans will need to put them under pressure, and we of course need to play our part in that as well. I don’t want us to let this opportunity go begging because I know what it means to the fans, the city and the club. I am absolutely convinced that we can beat Tottenham – we aren’t finished with this competition!”

Tottenham’s poor record in Germany

Spurs have been far from convincing on their travels in Europe, losing six of their last seven knock-out-round matches in Germany. Another interesting fact is that the North Londoners have moved through to the next round on just one of the last 10 occasions in Europe after failing to get a victory in the first leg.

The stakes are clear for both clubs – win this match, and they are through to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. Come on, Eintracht!