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Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner proud of Champions League run despite crashing out to Napoli

Oliver Glasner

Eintracht Frankfurt's UEFA Champions League journey came to a disappointing end on Wednesday night with a 3-0 defeat to Napoli at Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

Victor Osimhen scored twice, and Piotr Zielinski added a penalty to give the Italian side a deserved (5-0 aggregate) victory. 

Frankfurt had qualified for the competition by winning the Europa League last season and earned approximately $50million from participating this season.

While the defeat was a setback, the team had already achieved a significant accomplishment by qualifying for the round of 16 from a tough group that included Tottenham, Olympique Marseille, and Sporting.

Despite the loss, Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner remained proud of the team's achievement, and told media afterwards: "Congratulations to SSC Napoli on a deserved victory and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.

"We tried everything; we were more competitive than in the first leg but have to accept that Napoli was too much for us. They're playing at a top level and showed us our limits. Nevertheless, I'm proud of what the team has achieved in their first Champions League season."

Goalkeeper Kevin Trapp echoed the sentiment, recognizing Napoli's quality saying: "We just have to accept that they were the better team, but we played courageously, we had our chances. It was a decent performance; everything else we have to work on again."

Frankfurt's form had been poor heading into the game, with just one win in their last five Bundesliga matches. The team has now fallen to sixth place in the standings, five points outside the top five.
Despite the disappointment, dropping out of the Champions League could prove beneficial to Frankfurt's season. The team lacked the depth to compete on multiple fronts, and a focus on the Bundesliga could increase their chances of returning to the competition next season.

Frankfurt are up against fourth-placed Union Berlin on Sunday, and a win could help the team turn the season around.

"They are always difficult periods in a season," Trapp said. "However, you notice in the group that once someone's played in the Champions League they want to keep playing at that level.

"We have the quality for it, but the road there isn't easy. Now we need to see to it that we summon our strengths for the DFB Cup and Bundesliga and get the best out of them."

A successful run in the domestic league would go a long way in further growing one of Germany's sleeping giants.

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