From the Hessenliga straight to the Champions League stage - Dennis Schmitt has no time to enjoy it as interim coach of Eintracht Frankfurt.
21.01.2026, 05:01
21.01.2026, 07:12
SDA
"It's a dream to be able to accompany a game like this, I'm really looking forward to it. We will bring a lot of positive energy to it," said the 32-year-old. The Bundesliga club's former U21 coach was half an hour late for his first press conference before flying to Baku due to all the training work.
Schmitt was extremely optimistic that his first training sessions would bear fruit. "Because tomorrow we have a huge, huge opportunity to earn a final game at home next week. And the boys are fired up for it," he said ahead of Wednesday's game at Karabakh Agdam (18:45).
Only four points from six games
The club of Swiss defender Aurèle Amenda must win away in Azerbaijan and then the last game of the league phase against Tottenham Hotspur on January 28 if they are to have any chance of progressing after picking up just four points from six games so far.
Meanwhile, the search for a successor to Dino Toppmöller, who the Hessians parted company with on Sunday, continues in the background in Frankfurt. Marco Rose, the former Bundesliga coach of Mönchengladbach, Dortmund and Leipzig, is increasingly coming into focus. Schmitt is only seen as a temporary solution.
Assistant coach as a lucky charm
Frankfurt are also relying on Alexander Meier in such an important week - they face Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Like Jan Fiesser, the club legend is Schmitt's assistant.
The former goalscorer is also supposed to be something of a lucky charm for the 30th-placed team in the top flight: Meier scored both goals in the 2013 Europa League play-offs for a 2-0 win at Karabakh Agdam and a goal in the 2-1 second leg as Frankfurt progressed to the group stage.
After just one win in the last nine competitive games and a turbulent weekend, Schmitt already sees "great progress" and "a lot of quality" in the Eintracht professionals in training: "They smiled, they showed conviction."
