The journey of the Europa League highlights an unlimited potential

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It was another magical European night at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. Eintracht Frankfurt hosted the Ukrainian giant Shakhtar Donetsk, and the noise in the World Cup stadium was sometimes unbearable.

"We had a good night. The city celebrates. Beating a team like Shakhtar Donetsk is unbelievable, "said head coach of Eintracht Frankfurt, Adi Hülltter, after his 4-1 win Thursday night.

The victory against Shakhtar Donetsk& nbsp; was the seventh win in eight Europa League matches this season for Eintracht Frankfurt, and the Eagles should probably have also won the second leg.

At full capacity, the former Waldstadion can accommodate 47,000 spectators for European Cup matches. Once again, the installation was sold Thursday – compare it to a half empty BayArena in Leverkusen where the Bayer were eliminated by Krasnodar. But it's not only at home that Eintracht fans have impressed.

Several thousand people traveled with the club to the away matches in Cyprus, against Apollon Limbadol, Rome, against Lazio and finally Kharkiv, for the first leg against Shakhtar. Frankfurt supporters were not on the road only facing Olympique Marseille – the French club had to disconnect supporters after a stadium ban.

In a world where the UEFA Champions League is overshadowing the UEFA Europa League, many football fans are unaware of European side competition until the final stages of the tournament. Frankfurt is an exception because of its location – with one of the largest airports in Europe, Frankfurt is a hub – but also because of its history.

Many supporters of Eintracht were socialized in the 1990s, while the club was regularly playing in the high spheres of the Bundesliga. & Nbsp; Between 1991 and 1994, Eintracht Frankfurt played one of the best footballers in Germany and had stars like Anthony Yeboah., Jay-Jay Okocha, Uwe Bein, Maurizio Gaudino hasNorth Dakota Andreas M & ouller in their team.

Often labeled Fu & szlig; ball 2000, Frankfurt was one of the best teams in Europe but could not win a title at the same time. It was at this time that the club developed a cult culture, but also nicknamed "launische Diva vom Main" (the diva in a bad mood). Then, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the club struggled to regain its youthful vigor.

It was only in 2016 that Niko Kovač, head coach of Bayern, and sports director Fredi Bobić made significant changes to the club for success to return. DFB Pokal's victory over Bayern last summer was the club's first major trophy since 1988. It also meant that Frankfurt was back in Europe.

However, the nature of a moody diva means that many fans are unsure of how long it will take for Eintracht to return to Europe again. As a result, there are many tickets, no one wishing to miss the round of the Europa League in Frankfurt.

The question of whether fans should be scared or not is another question, though. & Nbsp; In fact, the current number of tickets and the atmosphere of the matches show that Eintracht Frankfurt could be a sleeping giant that looks like Bayern Müumlänchen, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke could move the mbades and could also become a financial giant.

Thanks to its smart investment strategy, Bobić has already set in motion the financial ascendancy of Frankfurt. During his first summer transfer with the club, the sports director was able to invest only 3.8 million euros in new players. Winning 12.5 million euros this summer, he laid the foundation for a brighter future.

The following summer, in 2017, Bobić was already able to spend 18.5 million euros for 17 new players, which also includes some players coming back from a loan. Some of these signatures included Luka Jović, which has been signed in a loan agreement with a buy-back clause.

A deep run in the Pokal DFB, more televised money in the Bundesliga and a qualification for the Europa League meant that investments in new players amounted to 27.05 million euros last summer. The club had also achieved 18.5 million euros in sales. Slowly but surely, Bobić managed to increase Frankfurt's budget while retaining key players.

Key entered into purchase loan agreements, as was the case with Ante Rebić, as well as Luka Jović, and by finding the relatively inexpensive attacker Sebastien Haller in the Netherlands, the three turned out to be investments successful.

"Our three forwards once again made the difference that they all scored," Humulltter said of his three strikers after the Shakhtar match. Of course, Luka Jović, Ante Rebić and Sebastien Haller were again against Shakhtar with the three fantastic dominants of Shakhtar's baseline.

As a result, the next stop of Eintracht Frankfurt in Europe will be Inter Milan. The Italian club is a difficult but resolvable opponent for Frankfurt. After all, the Eagles faced similar events, such as Lazio, Olympique Marseille and Shakhtar, on their way to the round of 16.

The survival of Europe until later stages could actually become a key element for Frankfurt to take a new step. The club needs Champions League football to grow financially or alternatively it needs a deep race beyond the round of 16.

Qualifying for the Champions League represents around 30 million euros for a club, even if they do not win a single match. & Nbsp; Last season, UEFA distributed € 399.8 million & nbsp;among all the participants in the competitions. This amount was divided into two pots: a fixed amount of € 239.8 million and an amount of € 160 million determined according to the market size of the participating countries similar to the Champions League.

How important is the drop in participation in the Champions League compared to the Europa League? In 2016-17, the winner of the UEFA Europa League achieved between 13 and 15.6 million euros in fixed amounts, as well as 10 to 30 million euros in collective profits. Manchester United, thanks to the great English television market, had won 46 euros. million last season.

Before the season, Frankfurt should calculate with only 2.6 million euros of participation bonus of the Europa League. In addition, the LUE clubs earn an additional € 360,000 for each win and € 120,000 per draw, but these amounts can only be calculated in a budget after the group stage – Frankfurt won the six matches of the group stage and won. 2.16 million euros, which is still peanuts compared to what the clubs earn in the Champions League. & Nbsp;

This season & nbsp; each& nbsp; 32 clubs qualified for the group stage can expect to receive an allocation of 15.25 million euros for the group stage. In addition, the clubs received € 2.7 million per win and € 900,000 per draw. Undistributed amounts (€ 900,000 per draw) will be grouped and redistributed among the clubs participating in the group stage according to the number of victories.

These numbers, which are freely accessible on UEFA.com does not include the money earned by the co-efficient pool teams (585 million euros) and the marketing pool (292 million euros). In other words, the Champions League is a cash cow compared to the Europa League. & Nbsp;

For Frankfurt to reach the Champions League, despite being located in one of the richest financial areas of Germany, and a metropolitan area of ​​more than 5 million people could be the key to waking up a club that is actually a sleeping giant. The money earned in the competition would not only allow Fredi Bobić to retain his team, but also to add key pieces and invest in the club 's infrastructure, such as the l & # 39; Youth academy and stadium, supposed to get a makeover before the 2024 European Championships.

The prospect of a bigger stadium, with 60,000 seats and world-clbad supporters, means that Frankfurt already has the basics for the next stage. It is now time to consolidate the bases by reaching the top four of the Bundesliga, which seems difficult looking at the current table of the Bundesliga or winning the Europa League.

In this respect, Frankfurt will certainly also be an outsider. But given the club's performance this season in Europe, everything seems possible.

Manuel Veth is the editor-in-chief of Futbolgrad Network, which focuses on football in the post-Soviet space, the Bundesliga and football in the Americas. It has also been published in Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, ProSoccerUSA and in several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth& nbsp;

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It was another magical European night at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. Eintracht Frankfurt hosted the Ukrainian giant Shakhtar Donetsk, and the noise in the World Cup stadium was sometimes unbearable.

"We had a good night. The city celebrates. Beating a team like Shakhtar Donetsk is incredible, "said Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Adi Hütter after the 4-1 win on Thursday night.

The victory against Shakhtar Donetsk was the seventh win in eight Europa League matches this season for Eintracht Frankfurt, and the Eagles would probably have had to win the second leg as well.

At full capacity, the former Waldstadion can accommodate 47,000 spectators for European Cup matches. Once again, the installation was sold Thursday – compare it to a half empty BayArena in Leverkusen where the Bayer were eliminated by Krasnodar. But it's not only at home that Eintracht fans have impressed.

Several thousand people traveled with the club to the away matches in Cyprus, against Apollon Limbadol, Rome, against Lazio and finally Kharkiv, for the first leg against Shakhtar. Frankfurt supporters were not on the road only facing Olympique Marseille – the French club had to disconnect supporters after a stadium ban.

In a world where the UEFA Champions League is overshadowing the UEFA Europa League, many football fans are unaware of European side competition until the final stages of the tournament. Frankfurt stands out exception because of its location – with one of the largest airports in Europe, Frankfurt is a hub – but also because of its history.

Many supporters of Eintracht were socialized in the 1990s when the club regularly participated in the upper echelons of the Bundesliga. Between 1991 and 1994, Eintracht Frankfurt played among the best footballers in Germany and had stars like Anthony Yeboah., Jay-Jay Okocha, Uwe Bein, Maurizio Gaudino hasNorth Dakota Andreas Möller in their team.

Often labeled Fußball 2000, Frankfurt was one of the best teams in Europe but could not win a title at the same time. It was at this time that the club developed a cult culture, but also nicknamed "launische Diva vom Main" (the diva in a bad mood). Then, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the club struggled to regain strength.

It was only in 2016, when Bayern head coach Niko Kovač, that the sports director Fredi Bobić made significant changes to the club, for this success to come back. DFB Pokal's victory over Bayern last summer was the club's first major trophy since 1988. It also meant that Frankfurt was back in Europe.

However, the nature of a moody diva means that many fans are unsure of how long it will take for Eintracht to return to Europe again. As a result, there are many tickets, no one wishing to miss the round of the Europa League in Frankfurt.

But if fans have to be scared is another question. In fact, the current number of tickets and the atmosphere of the games highlight that Eintracht Frankfurt could be a sleeping giant who, like Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke, could move the mbades and also become a financial giant.

Thanks to its smart investment strategy, Bobić has already set in motion the financial ascendancy of Frankfurt. During his first summer transfer with the club, the sports director was able to invest only 3.8 million euros in new players. Winning 12.5 million euros this summer, he laid the foundation for a brighter future.

The following summer, in 2017, Bobić was already able to spend 18.5 million euros for 17 new players, which also includes some players coming back from a loan. Luka Jović, a signatory to a loan agreement with a buy-back clause, was also among the signatories.

A deep run in the Pokal DFB, more televised money in the Bundesliga and a qualification for the Europa League meant that investments in new players amounted to 27.05 million euros last summer. The club had also achieved 18.5 million euros in sales. Slowly but surely, Bobić managed to increase Frankfurt's budget while retaining key players.

Key entered into purchase loan agreements, as was the case with Ante Rebić, as well as Luka Jović, and by finding the relatively inexpensive attacker Sebastien Haller in the Netherlands, the three turned out to be investments successful.

"Our three forwards once again made the difference that they all scored," Hütter said of his three players before the Shakhtar match. Of course, Luka Jović, Ante Rebić and Sebastien Haller were again against Shakhtar with the three fantastic dominants of Shakhtar's baseline.

As a result, the next stop of Eintracht Frankfurt in Europe will be Inter Milan. The Italian club is a difficult but resolvable opponent for Frankfurt. After all, the Eagles faced similar events, such as Lazio, Olympique Marseille and Shakhtar, on their way to the round of 16.

The survival of Europe until later stages could actually become a key element for Frankfurt to take a new step. The club needs Champions League football to grow financially or alternatively it needs a deep race beyond the round of 16.

Qualifying for the Champions League represents around 30 million euros for a club, even if it does not win a single match. Last season, UEFA distributed € 399.8 million to all participants in the competitions. This amount was divided into two pots: a fixed amount of € 239.8 million and an amount of € 160 million determined according to the market size of the participating countries similar to the Champions League.

How important is the drop in participation in the Champions League compared to the Europa League? In 2016-17, the winner of the UEFA Europa League achieved between 13 and 15.6 million euros in fixed amounts, as well as 10 to 30 million euros in collective profits. Manchester United, thanks to the great English television market, had won 46 euros. million last season.

Before the season, Frankfurt should calculate with only 2.6 million euros of participation bonus of the Europa League. In addition, the LUE clubs earn an additional € 360,000 for each win and € 120,000 per draw, but these amounts can only be calculated in a budget after the group stage – Frankfurt won the six matches of the group stage and won. 2.16 million euros, which is nothing compared to what clubs earn in the Champions League.

This season each 32 clubs qualified for the group stage can expect to receive an allocation of 15.25 million euros for the group stage. In addition, the clubs received € 2.7 million per win and € 900,000 per draw. Undistributed amounts (€ 900,000 per draw) will be grouped and redistributed among the clubs participating in the group stage according to the number of victories.

These figures, which are freely available on UEFA.com, do not include the money earned by the co-efficient teams (585 million euros) and marketing (292 million euros) . In other words, the Champions League is a cash cow compared to the Europa League.

For Frankfurt, reaching the Champions League, although it is located in one of Germany's richest financial areas, and a metropolitan area of ​​more than 5 million people could be the key to waking up a club that is actually a sleeping giant. The money earned in the competition would not only allow Fredi Bobić to retain his team, but also to add key pieces and invest in the club 's infrastructure, such as the l & # 39; Youth academy and stadium, supposed to get a makeover before the 2024 European Championships.

The prospect of a bigger stadium, with 60,000 seats and world-clbad supporters, means that Frankfurt already has the basics for the next stage. It is now time to consolidate the bases by reaching the top four of the Bundesliga, which seems difficult looking at the current table of the Bundesliga or winning the Europa League.

In this respect, Frankfurt will certainly also be an outsider. But given the club's performance this season in Europe, everything seems possible.

Manuel Veth is the editor-in-chief of Futbolgrad Network, which focuses on football in the post-Soviet space, the Bundesliga and football in the Americas. It has also been published in Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, ProSoccerUSA and in several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth