Eintracht Women’s four-point cushion over fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen means they can secure a place in Europe next season on the penultimate matchday of the 2024/25 campaign. A third-place finish would earn Niko Arnautis’ team a berth in the UEFA Women’s Champions League play-off round, but Eintracht could still finish second and qualify automatically for the league phase if VfL Wolfsburg were to drop points.
First and foremost, though, Arnautis and his players need to focus on their own tasks. At the Stadion am Brentanobad on Sunday 4 May (15:00 CEST), they face a TSG Hoffenheim side who have been one of the Bundesliga’s strongest teams during the second half of the campaign. Sara Doorsoun earned Eintracht a 1-0 away win in the corresponding fixture earlier this term, scoring the only goal of the game from the penalty spot.
“We want to win”
“We want to achieve our goal of playing in Europe next season this weekend,” said Arnautis at his pre-match press conference. “To do that, we need to win. By beating Hoffenheim, we can also put pressure on Wolfsburg for the final day of the season.”
Selina Cerci in fine form
Germany international Selina Cerci has played a key role in Hoffenheim’s resurgence in the second part of the season. With 12 goals so far – including eight in the second half of the campaign – the striker has found the net more often than any of her team-mates. She is followed in TSG’s goalscoring chart by Marta Cazalla and Erëleta Memeti, both of whom will leave the club in the summer. Cazalla is returning to Grasshopper Club Zürich, while Memeti is joining Eintracht Women.
