Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Friday, May 19, 2023
FRANKFURT – Oliver Glasner is not getting sentimental as the end of his tenure as Eintracht Frankfurt coach nears but he rather wants to leave on a high by winning the final three games.
It was announced two weeks ago that Frankfurt and Glasner would part ways after the season and the coach said on Thursday all that matters for him now is a strong final push for a place in Europe in the last two Bundesliga games and the German Cup final.
“The time hasn’t come yet to look back. We want to win all three games,” Glasner said. “There is still a lot at stake for all teams.”
In general, the top four from the Bundesliga go into the Champions League, the fifth-placed team and the Cup winner into the Europa League and sixth-placed team into the Conference League.
Frankfurt will thus qualify for the Europa League if they win the Cup final on June 3 against defending champions RB Leipzig. In the Bundesliga, Frankfurt in eighth are three points behind Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen, and one ahead of Mainz.
They finish at relegation-threatened Schalke on Saturday and at home against fifth-placed Freiburg a week later, having last weekend ended a run of 10 games without victory by beating Mainz.
Leipzig are assured of qualifying for Europe via the league, and if they win the Cup that Europa League berth would go to the sixth-placed Bundesliga team, and the seventh-place side enters the Conference League.
Leverkusen also have two chances to get into Europe, via the league or the Europa League. Should the semi-finalists win that competition they would gain direct Champions League entry. Should they have also claimed a European berth via the league that place would be lost for Germany.
Germany had eight teams in Europe this season because Frankfurt won the Europa League for direct Champions League entry but finished 11th in the Bundesliga. The top seven from the league also qualified because Leipzig came fourth and won the Cup.
