Eintracht Frankfurt fans barred from watching their team in the Champions League last night didn’t end up missing out on much. Dino Toppmöller’s SGE managed could only manage a 0-0 away draw against Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Toppmöller spoke on both the absence of the fans and the general trajectory of the team in his post-match interview.
For Toppmöller, the fact that Eintracht have stopped conceding far too many goals counts as significant progress. After conceding just four goals (literally one per match) in their first four competitive fixtures this season, the German RheinMainAdler began falling apart defensively.
Within the span of one week in late September, Toppmöller’s crew allowed in 12 goals against Union Berlin, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Atletico Madrid. After conceding five against Liverpool in the Champions League on October 22nd, things have at least begun to stabilize a bit.
Eintracht allowed only one goal against Heidenheim and Dortmund in the league and cup, respectively. Tuesday’s 0-0 – combined with a 2-0 home win over St. Pauli in the Bundesliga on October 25th – gives Eintracht two clean sheets in their last four matches.
“Who knows how things might have developed in the second half with our fans behind us?” Toppmöller noted when speaking to DAZN last night. “We wanted to give something back to our loyal fans today, and I believe they can be proud of the performance this young team put in on the pitch.
“It was a valuable point,” Toppmöller said of last night’s result in general. “The fact that we have four points after four [Champions League] games is absolutely fine. We’re totally on target.
“We have to assemble points like squirrels,” Toppmöller continued. “The games that are still to come – against Bergamo, Barcelona, Qarabag, and Tottenham –will be difficult. We’re confident that we can pick up points, especially in our home games, and then make it into the playoffs.”
