Matchday 29 in the Bundesliga gets under way on Friday as Europa League-chasing Eintracht Frankfurt come up against Champions League hopefuls Borussia Mönchengladbach (20.30 CEST). The two sides are enjoying rather different runs of form at the minute.
Thomas Schaaf’s Frankfurt haven’t won in three games (D1, L2) and will have to cope without the Bundesliga’s top scorer Alexander Meier, who underwent surgery on his patellar tendon this week and will miss the rest of the season.
Schaaf on Meier’s injury: "It’s a real blow”
"It’s a massive shame that I can’t finish the season and help the team out. For me, it’s now about recovering as quickly as possible," said Meier. Schaaf also expressed his disappointment at the absence of his best striker and viewed it as a set-back in the club’s fight to secure a Europa League spot. "His injury is a real blow," commented the manager, whose team currently lie four points adrift of sixth-placed FC Augsburg.
Sporting director Bruno Hübner echoed the thoughts of his manager. "We need to take care to ensure that our decent season doesn’t end on a negative," he commented. Following Meier’s injury, achieving Europa League qualification has “become very difficult. We need his goal threat; his quality is indisputable. He is one of our top performers." Defensive stalwart Carlos Zambrano will also be missing from the Frankfurt squad.
In contrast, the Fohlenelf are currently on a fantastic run, stringing together consecutive victories. The surprising DFB Cup exit at the hands of third division Arminia Bielefeld (5-4 on penalties) was quickly forgotten and the club are now focussing on their main aim of finishing in a Champions League qualifying spot.
Lucien Favre’s Borussia are unbeaten in eight Bundesliga games. They have won their last four Bundesliga matches, including against current league leaders Bayern München (2-0) and Borussia Dortmund (3-1). Germany international Max Kruse, in-form Patrick Herrmann and his attacking partner Raffael are all forces to be reckoned with at the moment.
Johnson: "We need to continue to give everything we’ve got"
Matchday 29 in the Bundesliga gets under way on Friday as Europa League-chasing Eintracht Frankfurt come up against Champions League hopefuls Borussia Mönchengladbach (20.30 CEST). The two sides are enjoying rather different runs of form at the minute.
Thomas Schaaf’s Frankfurt haven’t won in three games (D1, L2) and will have to cope without the Bundesliga’s top scorer Alexander Meier, who underwent surgery on his patellar tendon this week and will miss the rest of the season.
Schaaf on Meier’s injury: "It’s a real blow”
"It’s a massive shame that I can’t finish the season and help the team out. For me, it’s now about recovering as quickly as possible," said Meier. Schaaf also expressed his disappointment at the absence of his best striker and viewed it as a set-back in the club’s fight to secure a Europa League spot. "His injury is a real blow," commented the manager, whose team currently lie four points adrift of sixth-placed FC Augsburg.
Sporting director Bruno Hübner echoed the thoughts of his manager. "We need to take care to ensure that our decent season doesn’t end on a negative," he commented. Following Meier’s injury, achieving Europa League qualification has “become very difficult. We need his goal threat; his quality is indisputable. He is one of our top performers." Defensive stalwart Carlos Zambrano will also be missing from the Frankfurt squad.
In contrast, the Fohlenelf are currently on a fantastic run, stringing together consecutive victories. The surprising DFB Cup exit at the hands of third division Arminia Bielefeld (5-4 on penalties) was quickly forgotten and the club are now focussing on their main aim of finishing in a Champions League qualifying spot.
Lucien Favre’s Borussia are unbeaten in eight Bundesliga games. They have won their last four Bundesliga matches, including against current league leaders Bayern München (2-0) and Borussia Dortmund (3-1). Germany international Max Kruse, in-form Patrick Herrmann and his attacking partner Raffael are all forces to be reckoned with at the moment.
Johnson: "We need to continue to give everything we’ve got"
"We’re going to Frankfurt with the aim of coming away with all three points to continue our current great run of results," remarked sporting director Eberl. The club currently have a two-point cushion over fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen and are twelve points ahead of fifth-placed FC Schalke 04. "We obviously want to carry our current momentum into the match. We can’t afford to rest on our laurels. We need to continue to give everything we’ve got to try and come away with all three points on Friday," commented Fabian Johnson. "We’re currently in third place and that’s where we want to stay. We have a great chance to tighten our grip on third on Friday evening and that’s exactly what we’re hoping to do,” mentioned Herrmann.
Defensive stalwart Martin Stranzl isn’t available for the match in Frankfurt. The Austrian is currently suffering from an oedema in his knee joint and the earliest he can expect to return to the matchday squad is against Wolfsburg. Roel Brouwers replaced him in the starting line-up for the game against Dortmund. World Champion Christoph Kramer will return after having served his suspension for accumulating five yellow cards.
Their head-to-head record this season is even with Eintracht having triumphed 3-1 in the Bundesliga but being beaten 2-1 by Borussia in the second round of the DFB Cup.
