The second leg will hardly bring serious problems to the Neapolitans.

Eintracht prepared well, but it only took half an hour

The original plan of the German club had a serious right to exist. The Frankfurt team came out with a 5-4-1 formation and acted in the center block, acting fluidly and quickly. The Germans paid special attention to the center of the field and patronized the Napoli midfielders with the utmost diligence.

The Neapolitans, in turn, did not become impudent and did not press, fearing the lightning counterattacks of Eintracht, in which they are so good. From the very first minutes, Napoli took possession of the ball – before the break, the percentage of possession was 70%. The reason was the refusal of the Germans from high pressure and the free transfer of the ball by the central defenders of the guests. The pressure on the players with the ball started the moment they crossed the middle of the pitch, which made it much more difficult to create space and hamper action in the final third for Napoli.

Eintracht’s defensive five controlled the entire width of the pitch well. The guests, in response to this, tried to lure the home players with frequent changes of position, but in the first half hour this did not lead to success, moreover, there was a risk of creating a free zone for the team’s counterattack hosts . Once again the leader of the Germans, Randal Kolo, showed himself well, creating the maximum tension between the players of the Napoli defensive line.

The wait-and-see attitude of Spalletti’s departments has paid off. The Napoli captain, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, also pointed this out after the match:

They got off to a good start, but then we improved and had more ball possession. We knew it was very important and we managed to get into the right rhythm.

The hosts start to lose concentration in the last 15 minutes of the first half. The Neapolitans waited for mistakes in the Eintracht defense and began to exploit them. At first there was a controversial moment with the ball hitting the hand of the visiting player, and a few minutes later Napoli still had the opportunity to break through the penalty spot.

Goalkeeper Kevin Trapp managed to save a Khvichi penalty, but Eintracht’s weary defense had already started to fail and concede too much to Napoli. After one of their attacks on the away half, the hosts themselves missed a return attack and Osimhen scored his 20th goal of the season. An actual transfer to the Nigerian gave Lozano. A few minutes later, this group again had the opportunity to score a goal, but the referee recorded an offside, and the Eintracht fans were able to exhale for a while.

The main roles in the match were assigned to the leaders of the offensive teams

Shortly after the start of the second half, the hosts were down to ten men. Eintracht’s best player this season, Randal Kolo, in an attempt to recover a turnover, stepped on the ankle of a Napoli player and earned himself a rather controversial red card. The referee’s decision caused some controversy, as the Frenchman had no intention of keeping up with the defender.

The loss of Kolo becomes very serious for the Germans and in the remaining time their job is to concede as few goals as possible. But Kvaratskhelia has entered the picture. He is the author of an assist, skilfully giving Di Lorenzo a back-heel pass on the way.

The assist in the match against Eintracht was Khvichi’s fourth in the current Champions League draw, and he now shares the lead in the best assists list alongside Leo Messi and Diogo Jota. At the same time, Kvaratskhelia became the first player in his team’s history to score four assists in one season. Champions League. The Georgian is in incredible form and has been distinguished by useful actions at the gates of others for six matches in a row.

The best player of the match according to the version Uefa it was Mexican winger “Napoli” Irving Lozano, who also scored an assist, hit the woodwork before the episode with a penalty kick, and was the brightest player on the pitch.

“Eintracht Frankfurt” does not want to tolerate defeat, but it will be difficult in Naples

After losing Kolo in the first game, the German team practically lost the chances of reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League. However, Eintracht manager Oliver Glazner is not giving up hope for the trip:

We just need to make fewer mistakes. But we will not go to the transfer as tourists. If we score first and take the lead, they will probably get nervous and, with this development of events, we will have a chance.

Europe already knows how a team from Frankfurt manages to get away. Xavi’s Barcelona suffered badly last time out, when German fans invaded the Camp Nou and created a home atmosphere for their players in Catalonia.

With Napoli this is unlikely to happen, and the Italians themselves are now at a completely different level than with Barcelona: the Italians have won 8 of their last 9 meetings, scoring 23 goals in this period and conceding only 4. The only loss of points occurred in a home match against Cremonese, when the guests managed to reduce the result to a draw and score 2 goals.

This season Napoli have suffered only 2 defeats. One of them was in the first match after the World Cup against Inter: Milan defeated the leaders with a minimum score of 1:0. And the second in the group stage of the Champions League on the way to Liverpool: the Reds scored 2 unanswered goals against Spalletti’s wards. The task for Eintracht will be prohibitive. Especially in the absence of Randal Colo.