One of the most intriguing ties of the last 16 in this year’s UEFA Europa League was between Eintracht Frankfurt and Internazionale. Frankfurt, who qualified for the competition by winning the DFB-Pokal last season, are having a brilliant season in the Bundesliga and are fifth, just three points behind the Champions League places.
They have been able to do this due to fantastic attacking options in Ante Rebic, Sebastien Haller and the Bundesliga’s top scorer Luka Jovic. On the other hand, Inter narrowly missed out on a last-16 spot in the Champions League, due to a late equaliser from Spurs at the Camp Nou.
Their form in Serie A has been good as well. Signings such as Lautaro Martinez have helped the Italians to just one point behind their local rivals AC Milan in the third European spot in Italy. In this tactical analysis, we will look at how these teams played in the first leg.
Lineups
Frankfurt Manager Adi Huttler decided to play with three at the back with two attacking wing-backs in Danny da Costa and Filip Kostic. Other than the two wide players Frankfurt played quite compact with captain Gelson Fernandes in midfield. Croatian striker Rebic missed the fixture due to knee problems so Frankfurt played a front two of Haller and Jovic.
In the other dugout, Luciano Spalletti played a 4-2-3-1 with Ivan Perisic and Matteo Politano on either wing. However there was no Mauro Icardi, who has not played since being stripped of the captaincy, so Martinez led the line.
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