“Exceeded our worst expectations”

Philipp Reschke on …

… the injured Eintracht fan: First and foremost, it’s the person’s health that is the main priority. We can report that the spectator, the fan, who was quite seriously affected by a firework that exploded in that part of the stand, is now in a relatively stable condition. Nevertheless, it is a very serious injury to his spine, which occurred straight afterwards due to a fall and we do not yet know whether he will have to be operated on here or if he can be transported to Germany. We are talking to his partner and obviously hope that things now go as smoothly as possible for him.

… incidents on Tuesday after the match: Otherwise we have been told that the night passed off without any further incident. In light of what happened before and what we went through yesterday, that is very good news. 

… concerns ahead of the match: Our worst expectations have already been very much exceeded here. When you’re facing Olympique Marseille, you know what you’re coming up against in matches like yesterday’s. If you look at past matches against PAOK and also Feyenoord, then the scenes are relatively comparable. We were ready for something like that, but then when you actually experience it, it’s different altogether. From what we could see from the Olympique fans, it was no holds barred, a free-for-all.

… games potentially behind closed doors: And we have to acknowledge that there were some in our ranks who embraced that - that it was a free-for-all - obviously not to the same extent or in the same numbers, but who had firecrackers and projectiles and who fired them off. It’s something that we’re going to have to look into in great deal in the coming days, because obviously with our past offences and the UEFA record we already have, we’re on very, very precarious ground as regards the suspended sentence for the home game or for a match behind closed doors, and also the possible consequences that this could have on away games.

…discussions with UEFA: Initially though there is obviously a formal investigation that UEFA will be conducting. You generally get informed after that. It will take them some time as well, to fully document the minor and major events that took place around the match. We will have six days to state our case on any charges that are made, but we obviously know what they are going to be. And then we will have to wait to see what UEFA - in their next scheduled meeting to discuss all incidents from the three competitions on the same day – decides about our case.

… the gesture made by a fan in the Eintracht area: In terms of the Nazi salute – I don’t think there are any or many clubs that have such a clear understanding of values and have set boundaries regarding concepts and tendencies like these, towards antisemitism and racism, as we have. There is absolutely no question that we will look into every detail meticulously. The person involved came to see us of their own accord during the first half, as we already pointed out yesterday, and categorically denied that it was that kind of gesture.We will decide whether that is a plausible explanation from them or not, after we’ve spoken to them personally.