Preview: ‘It’s only half-time’ | OneFootball

The decision on who progresses to the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals will be made in Frankfurt. Eintracht go into the clash against AFC Ajax with a narrow first-leg advantage.

The state of play

Everyone agreed that the 2-1 win at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in the first leg has “given us a good foundation” – no more, no less. The second leg at Deutsche Bank Park on Thursday evening (kick-off 18:45 CET) will decide who makes it through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League. “We put in a very good performance there and brought a lead back to Frankfurt, but it’s only half-time,” said sporting director Timmo Hardung. “If we think we can go into the second leg so laissez-faire, we will fail. We'll try our utmost to prevent that.”

Ajax have won just one of their last five European away games on German soil, the only victory in that time coming against Borussia Dortmund on 3 November 2021 in the Champions League. As a side note: Ansgar Knauff, now an Eagle and provider of the winning goal for Ellyes Skhiri in Amsterdam last week, was a 76th-minute substitute in Dortmund that day.

Solid at home

“We have the next big match on Thursday,” said Nnamdi Collins. “We have to finish the job and progress to the next round. The match in Amsterdam felt good but we’re not through yet.” Eintracht have kept clean sheets in each of their last three European home games at Deutsche Bank Park, beating Ferencvárosi TC, Slavia Praha and FC RFS.

The last time the Eagles managed such a successful run in a major European competition was between October 1993 and November 1994, when they actually registered six home wins in a row without conceding. On that note, the quarter-final spot is there for the taking.