Final in the DFB Cup: a last belly slide? Glasner wants to go as the title hero

Oliver Glasner would like to end his turbulent two years at Eintracht Frankfurt with a last belly landing.

If the silver European Cup is joined by a golden DFB Cup, the impulsive Austrian could slide head first across the pitch again – and thus repeat his “Diver” performances from Barcelona and Stuttgart in Berlin. “We’re not done yet, I’m not done here yet. We want to come back with the DFB Cup,” said Glasner before the final on Saturday (8 p.m. / ZDF and Sky) against RB Leipzig.

Eintracht fans make a pilgrimage to Berlin

Around 50,000 Frankfurt fans are expected in the capital at the weekend. For Eintracht it is – Champions League or not – the biggest game of the season. And at the same time the chance to save the roller coaster-like back series, including the crisis, discord in the leadership and the announced farewell to Glasner. “Oliver Glasner should win his second title in his second year at Eintracht – and then go through the big goal,” said sporting director Markus Krösche. For this reason, too, the separation did not take place immediately, but only at the end of the season.

Glasner has made his home in Frankfurt and is enormously valued and respected by the players. Nevertheless, Krösche and board spokesman Axel Hellmann saw no basis for continuing the cooperation beyond the summer. The sporting misery in the Bundesliga was just as depressing as Glasner’s public appearances, which became more and more irritable and snotty over the course of the season. When the 48-year-old Austrian gave an angry speech in Hoffenheim at the beginning of May, Hellmann reprimanded him publicly. After that, the end was quickly decided.

Glasner left VfL Wolfsburg as a Champions League club in the summer of 2021 and switched to Eintracht. It paid off. He quickly became a crowd favorite with the Hessians. “We had two very, very nice years with Oli. Maybe the best Eintracht Frankfurt has had recently. He played a huge part in it,” said goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. You will “go on vacation with a crying eye,” he added.

The fans forgave Glasner eleventh and seventh place in the Bundesliga because there were always highlights in the cup competitions: the furious 3:2 at FC Barcelona, ​​the triumph in Seville or the surprising achievement of the round of 16 on your own debut in the Champions League. In a way, it is symbolic of Glasner’s time that things often went well in the important knockout games – and less so in the weekly league routine.

Who takes over Glasner’s post?

The long-standing Eintracht coach Friedhelm Funkel already sees Glasner as a formative figure in the traditional club. “He belongs at Eintracht at the top as far as the coaches are concerned,” said Funkel of the German Press Agency. He only finds words of praise for Glasner. “He comes across well, he’s very, very popular with the fans. He’s made the team even better. He won’t have to worry about the future.” Where Glasner will take over from the summer, he recently left open. Former Julian Nagelsmann assistant Dino Toppmöller could take over the vacant post at Eintracht.

It is already certain that Eintracht will play internationally again next season. “There is hardly a city in Europe, a club that lives Europe like Eintracht does. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s the Champions League or the Conference League,” said Glasner. With a win in Berlin you would still qualify for the Europa League at the last minute. If it’s up to Captain Sebastian Rode, they also want to get this title for Glasner. “I think there will be another jolt through the team on Saturday because we have achieved incredible things with Oli,” said Rode to radio station FFH.