Eintracht Frankfurt's women's team won their mini-tournament with a 2-0 victory over Malmo FF on Saturday, but now face a tough draw for the next Champions League qualifying round.
Coach Niko Arnautis said after the Malmo win that the team would have to wait and see whether they were seeded or unseeded for Tuesday's draw in Nyon, adding that being unseeded would make things even harder.
Under the format, the five seeded, stronger teams land in the first pot and face one of the five unseeded, potentially weaker teams from the second pot over two legs. The five winners of those ties earn a spot in the Champions League league phase. Arnautis said the team would do everything it could to achieve that.
Eintracht drops into pot two
Hours after Arnautis spoke, UEFA announced the seeding pots, and the news was bad for the Frankfurt side. Because Juventus narrowly beat Hammarby, Eintracht dropped into pot two, meaning they will definitely have to overcome a major opponent on the way to the Champions League. The possible rivals are Real Madrid, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain or Chelsea.
Arnautis said it was great to travel through Europe with this team, and that they wanted to keep doing so for as long as possible this year. Eintracht were eliminated by Real Madrid in the third qualifying round last season, and Arnautis suggested the club hopes for more this time. Real and Paris Saint-Germain finished as runners-up in their respective leagues, while Juventus and Chelsea finished third in Italy and England.
Eintracht in good form
Eintracht showed against Nicosia, whom they beat 8-0, and against Malmo that their form is already strong early in the season, with forward Laura Freigang playing especially well. Freigang said it was fun and that the team was in good shape. Freigang added that the team had often gone home disappointed during qualification in the past, and said this time should be different.
