Matchday in focus: Promising position

After their first-leg victory over Betis last week, one statistic in particular suggests the Eagles have an excellent chance of advancing to the next round of the Europa League.

Schlagkräftige Einheit: Im Hinspiel konnte die Eintracht fast aus dem Vollen schöpfen, für das Rückspiel stehen noch kleine personelle Fragezeichen im Raum.

After winning the first leg of a European tie, Eintracht have progressed to the next round in each of their last nine attempts.

Real Betis Balompié und Eintracht Frankfurt möchten im Achtelfinale der UEFA Europa League am Donnerstagabend das Ticket für die Runde der letzten Acht lösen.

The Eagles are unbeaten in their last seven matches against Spanish opposition.

Tactics

Betis head coach Manuel Pellegrini opted for his favoured 4-2-3-1 system in the first leg – a formation he has used in 43 of Real’s 44 games this season, including Sunday’s 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Absentees

Ragnar Ache remains sidelined with a torn muscle fibre in his thigh, while Eintracht boss Oliver Glasner will make a late decision on injured trio Danny da Costa, Jesper Lindström and Sebastian Rode.

Betis have recently been without Héctor Bellerin, Andrés Guardado, Álex Moreno and Christian Tello.

Chefcoach Oliver Glasner attestiert seinem österreichischen Landsmann Martin Hinteregger eine aufsteigende Formkuve.

Eintracht head coach Oliver Glasner and defender Martin Hinteregger.

Head-to-head

Eintracht’s 2-1 first-leg win was the first ever meeting between the teams in European competition.

Statistics

The Eagles are unbeaten in their last seven matches against Spanish opposition, winning five and drawing two. Their most recent home game against a La Liga side ended in a 1-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna in December 1993.

After winning the first leg of a European tie, Eintracht have progressed to the next round in each of their last nine attempts. The last time they failed to do so was against FC Sochaux in the 1980/81 UEFA Cup, when they won the first leg 4-2 but were knocked out on away goals following a 2-0 second-leg defeat.