Antonio previews Frankfurt: “It will be important to play with 12 players – 11 players and one more, our fans”
Wed 12 October 2022, 14:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Towards the end of a wave of emotion following the win at Brighton on Saturday, Antonio Conte notably turned quickly to this evening’s UEFA Champions League match at home to Eintracht Frankfurt (8pm).
“I have to ask something to our fans,” he told us. “To create a fantastic atmosphere, because the team and I want to go through to the next round, and we know the next two games are decisive. We have to try to play with 13 players – 11 players and two more players, and they have to be our fans.”
The theory always goes that if you win your home games in the Champions League, you’ll likely progress to the knockout phase of the tournament. Having beaten Marseille in MD1, but suffered a late loss at Sporting in MD2 and then drawing at Frankfurt in MD3 last week, in a tight Group D, we now face what are huge back-to-back home games against the Bundesliga side tonight, and Sporting on 26 October.
We need to be focussed on only us, and we will go strong from the start until the end, a game with intensity, desire and a great will to win
So, it was no surprise that Antonio spoke on similar lines on Tuesday. “Our fans know very well the importance of this game,” he said. “We need to create an amazing atmosphere around the pitch. It will be very important to play with 12 players, 11 players, and one player more, our fans.
“We want to go to the next round. This is not decisive, but very important, because there is a lot of balance in our group and to get a win will be very important. I think our players are ready to play an important game and I also want our fans to be ready.”
Eintracht Frankfurt beat Bundesliga leaders Union Berlin before our draw at Deutsche Bank Park last week. By way of contrast, the lost to bottom side Vfl Bochum 3-0 on Saturday.
Antonio added: “If you check the starting XI, they made many rotations for that game. It means they want to give a big effort in this game against us. They also know the importance of this game for qualification. So, for me, the importance of the last result is zero. We need to be focussed on only us, and we will go strong from the start until the end, a game with intensity, desire and a great will to win.”
