Eintracht Frankfurt boss Dino Toppmoller could be tempted to stick with the XI who destroyed Bayern Munich when they visit Aberdeen, according to German football journalist Archie Rhind-Tutt.
ESPN Bundesliga reporter and Guardian Football Weekly podcast regular Archie helped The Press and Journal get up to speed on fresh developments at Frankfurt ahead of the German side’s Europa Conference League trip to Pittodrie on Thursday evening.
Perhaps most daunting for the Dons is the idea visiting manager Toppmoller might take the opportunity to further gel the line-up who inflicted a 5-1 defeat on Bayern on Saturday – despite there being little to play for in the north-east.
Both Aberdeen and Frankfurt have huge domestic games to contend with this Sunday: the Dons are in the Viaplay Cup final against Rangers, and Eintracht are at Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
However, Archie said: “There is a school of thought – if that’s not too big a phrase – that he (Toppmoller) may want to try with the same XI who beat Bayern to potentially gel them together a bit more (at Aberdeen).
“Mario Gotze was playing in an unfamiliar role as a No.6 – a defensive midfielder – and was super-effective at pulling the strings for them from that position, having struggled to make an impact so far this season and after being quite good overall last season.
“I’d still expect someone like Gotze to travel, for example – and I don’t think he’s going to be leaving lots of people at home.”
However, Archie reckons Toppmoller will resist any argument to send out the same starting XI from the Bayern game, and will give fringe players their chance against Barry Robson’s Reds, ahead of the German winter break and the second half of the season beyond.
Speculating on who could take to the Pittodrie pitch for Frankfurt, he added: “Elias Baum is an 18-year-old defender who’s come on for a few minutes at the end of the away game in Helsinki and even in the game against Bayern.
“He’s a Germany under-19 international and I reckon he’s somebody who could be in consideration.
“There is a sizeable squad.
“Jessic Ngankam came in from Hertha Berlin in the summer and has not really landed, (and) has had some difficult moments with the coach so far, but this looks like the kind of game where he’ll be asked to come in, maybe alongside (top-scorer Omar) Marmoush upfront.
“We’ll see how they adapt their system.”
There remains 500,000 euros (£430,000) up for grabs for a win in this final round of pool fixtures, though – cash Archie thinks is as coveted by the visitors as it is by Aberdeen.
Omar Marmoush: Scored against Aberdeen, scored against Bayern Munich
It is a simple fact, though, there is less riding on this match than when the Dons travelled to Frankfurt for the first round of Group G matches back in September.
They ultimately lost 2-1 in Germany – after Dante Polvara levelled the scoreline at 1-1 in the first half – but Robson’s team acquitted themselves well.
Eintracht’s opening scorer, Omar Marmoush – who also got his side up and running in their win over Bayern – will probably play at Pittodrie, having picked up a domestic suspension at the weekend which means he is less in need of a rest before Sunday’s visit to Leverkusen.
Marmoush heads the scoring chart at Frankfurt this term, going some way to fill the scoring void left by 95m euro man Randal Kolo Muani’s deadline-day departure for PSG.
Archie said: “He arrived on a free from Wolfsburg. He had scored five goals last season for Wolfsburg and three for Stuttgart (on loan) – and now he’s got seven in 14 (in the Bundesliga).
“He’s somebody who has benefitted from having pretty low expectations in contrast to someone like Kolo Muani.
“Marmoush didn’t have that expectation, and even up until Saturday, everyone was like: ‘We need a striker, we need a striker’.
“They still probably do, but the fact he’s been able to settle and score a goal every other game in the Bundesliga is very good going.
“You look at his record in the Conference League as well (four goals in five), and it’s quite impressive.”
Frankfurt the ‘Moody Diva’ of German football – with season of Dons parallels
Frankfurt’s eye-catching victory over Bayern should not cloud the fact – like Aberdeen – they have had a stuttering season to this point following a summer of change.
In a campaign of transition under first-time head coach (and former Bayern assistant) Toppmoller, following the loss of several of the Europa League-winning squad from two years ago, Archie says a “good” season for Frankfurt would be a mid-table to top-half Bundesliga finish and further progress in the Conference League.
They are seventh at present, despite the “quicker than expected” emergence of exciting prospects like the “very talented, very ready to run-however-long-he-has-to” midfielder Hugo Larsson, 19.
To hammer home Frankfurt’s inconsistency, they exited the German Cup to third division Saarbrucken just three days before humbling giants Bayern in the league.
Archie explained Frankfurt have long been referred to as the “Moody Diva” in German football due to their unpredictable tendencies – something amplified this term.
The Deutsche Bank Park club, who will only have 200 VIP guests at the game in Aberdeen due to a Uefa sanction barring regular away fans from the game, have broadly speaking – again, much like Aberdeen – produced their best performances of the campaign in matches where they have been without the lion’s share of possession.
Archie added: “Enough things are there… At the back, they’ve been very strong.
“Goals have been a problem until scoring five against Bayern Munich.
“That’s where you come back to the “Moody Diva” thing – there’s something about them as a club which has the ability to turn it on for big games.
“You look at the amount of space they get to play with against bigger clubs and it does seem to benefit them a bit.
“They drew 3-3 against Dortmund and absolutely killed them on the break. With Bayern, similar thing as well.
“I imagine Aberdeen will sit in a little bit more, even if they are at home, and it will benefit Aberdeen a bit.”
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