CHAPTER 105: DISORIENTED

The fans are ready, the players are ready, we are ready for kick-off. Eintracht Frankfurt face Bayer Leverkusen with six points currently separating the two after Frankfurt’s close loss to Bayern Munich last week. Eintracht Frankfurt will want to close that gap, while Leverkusen will look to narrow the distance between themselves and Bayern Munich above them. This is going to be an interesting match.

The referee’s whistle blew as Ekitike took the kick-off for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Toppmöller employed a 3-1-4-2 formation with Trapp, the captain, in goal. Kristensen, Koch — back from injury — and Theate in defense. Larsson as the pivot sitting right in front of the defense. A midfield containing Knauff, Skhiri, Götze, and Brown. With Lukas and Ekitike up top.

There were a lot of attacking options on the pitch, but the defense was sorely lacking.

Xabi Alonso went with a 3-4-3 formation with Hradecky as the number one. Hermoso, Tah, and Mukiele as the back three. Frimpong and Grimaldo as wing-backs with Xhaka and Garcia in midfield. And a front three of Tella, Schick, and Wirtz.

It did not take long after kick-off for Leverkusen to register their first shot on goal.

Ekitike took the kick-off with a pass to Larsson, who passed it to Theate. Theate’s first touch left much to be desired as the ball rolled an inch too far out of his control.

Wirtz, who was closing him down quickly, didn’t let that mistake go unpunished. He stretched his leg out and nicked the ball out of Theate’s reach.

Wirtz took one more touch as he got to the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a shot from range.

"Ohh horrible mistake by Theate. CHANCE! Great save by Trapp! Florian Wirtz almost opening the scoreline right after kick-off! First corner of the game in the first 15 seconds alone."

The game continued in a similar vein. Eintracht Frankfurt were seeing less and less of the ball as the first half progressed.

The match was unlike the one against Bayern Munich, though, as much of the play was taking place in midfield and on the flanks rather than in and around Eintracht’s penalty area as at the Allianz Arena.

Lukas, however, barely saw the ball.

Fifteen minutes had gone by, but he had only touched the ball four times in total. Twice he was dispossessed on the turn by Granit Xhaka, and twice he was bodied out of possession by Jonathan Tah.

He was given the license to roam, but it was as if Leverkusen were intentionally playing around him.

When he pressed on the left flank, Grimaldo sent the ball to Frimpong or Wirtz down the right flank, and vice versa.

Unbeknownst to him, Xabi Alonso had specifically ordered his players to deny Lukas the ball as much as possible.

It worked — and it worked perfectly. He was, in essence, out of the game.

And before he could actually figure out what was going on, his team was already in a hole, about three goals deep.

It started in the 25th minute. Leverkusen dominated possession in midfield as they always had done, playing short passes as they snuffed out whatever pressure the home side applied.

Wirtz got the ball in Eintracht Frankfurt’s final third with his back to goal and Larsson bearing down on him. He feigned a turn but simply passed the ball backwards to Xhaka at the edge of the center circle.

Neither Skhiri nor Götze, who were closest to Xhaka, attempted to close him down or put pressure on him. The Swiss midfielder calmly moved a meter forward before spotting a run up top.

Xhaka saw Tella making the arched run just outside the box and, from about 40 meters out, played a perfectly weighted through ball right through the entire Frankfurt midfield and into Tella’s path.

The Nigerian took the ball beautifully with his first touch. With his second, he cut to his right, slipping between Theate and Koch, who looked lost. With his third, he blasted a shot from just outside the box with his right foot, arrowing it into the bottom-right corner of Trapp’s goal.

Trapp dived, but in vain.

"GOALLL!! Leverkusen has taken the lead. You had the feeling it was a long time coming! Xhaka cutting through the midfield with an incisive pass, and Tella — who doesn’t normally score many goals — beats Theate and Koch, and buries it past Trapp into the back of the net! It’s Bayer Leverkusen one, Eintracht Frankfurt nil."

Trapp fetched the ball from the back of the net and launched it up the field. The team had left him unprotected — whether from the lack of pressing upfield or the defense allowing themselves to be beaten with just one touch.

Lukas was on the opposite flank to where this was happening; there was nothing he could do about it.

The second goal, however, started with him on the ball.

About three minutes after the opener, Theate launched the ball up the pitch towards Lukas. With his back to goal, Lukas tracked the ball’s trajectory, head high. Tah was also tracking it, charging forward from behind him.

The two met just at the edge of Leverkusen’s final third, but the 6’5" defender was always favorite to win the aerial duel. Lukas, however, wasn’t one to give up easily. He leapt as high as he could together with Tah.

Fortunately, Lukas judged the ball’s position slightly better as it landed on his chest despite the pressure from Tah. Before the ball could hit the ground, Lukas was already swiveling with it, rolling past Tah and looking ready to burst into the space behind.

Before he could get a second touch, though, Mukiele slid in out of nowhere.

The Frenchman got the ball — and a bit of the man — as Lukas rolled on the floor before springing back up immediately.

The ball was already out of Leverkusen’s half, though.

Mukiele sent it into midfield to Xhaka, who once again was given space and time to pick out an almost identical pass to Tella, this time just outside the penalty area.

Tella took a touch into the box with his right foot and went for a near-post finish.

Trapp, however, was able to cover the angle, pulling off an unlikely point-blank save.

"Eintracht Frankfurt are being picked apart with consummate ease. They need to plug a hole in that midfield, and they need to do it fast.

Corner to be taken by Garcia. In-swinger into the six-yard box. Trapp isn’t coming off his line! Lots of bodies in the box... chaos in the box... MUKIELE POKES IT IN! And Bayer Leverkusen doubles their lead! Just half an hour into the game and they lead by two goals already!"

Lukas, standing at the edge of the box in case of a counterattack opportunity, shook his head as he watched the Leverkusen players run away to celebrate their second goal.

The stadium, except for the 5,000+ Leverkusen fans at the away end, was silent. They were being rocked in their own home. But the worst was yet to come.