You could see that Tatjana Pawollek was lying on her back on the lawn in Barcelona and that she was in danger of evil. She knows from her own painful experience what it feels like – this kind of serious knee injury. In May 2021, in the DFB Cup final, the biggest game of her career to date, the Frankfurt Eintracht captain fell to the ground after an initially inconspicuous duel. She even continued playing for a few minutes even though, as it turned out, the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee had torn.
On Thursday evening, it was another special game, Champions League at FC Barcelona, the Obertshausen native went down after around an hour of play – because, as it turned out in the Catalan hospital, the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee had torn. Her reaction on the pitch suggested she knew what had happened and what awaited her in the coming months.
Defiantly leaves the stadium
Pawollek refused to leave the Estadi Johan Cruyff while lying on a stretcher; she walked defiantly, without leaning on any helpers, with her head up. “We are very, very sad about the shocking diagnosis,” said coach Niko Arnautis. “We feel incredibly sorry for her, who will now be missing for a longer period of time and has been incredibly important to us on and off the pitch in recent months.”
The elimination from the queen’s class took a back seat at the SGE, especially since the team was not unprepared after the missed opportunities in the games against Benfica Lisbon last year. In the 2-0 defeat against Barca, the players did well in the first competitive game of the year, fought self-sacrificingly, but never came close to the victory they needed. The defending champions’ elite team rarely let their dominant game shine and mostly played in a very business-like manner.
Which was enough for two goals from Patri (19th) and Caroline Hansen (73rd) and led to a few more top-class chances. SGE goalkeeper Cara Bösl skillfully canceled out three of them in the second half. For the long-time substitute goalkeeper, in front of almost 5,000 spectators, it was a career-defining evening that she will remember for a long time. Bösl was called into action because Eintracht’s personnel misfortune hit Eintracht hard on Thursday.
Number one Stina Johannes was ill during the week and had to stay in the dressing room during the break. Geraldine Reuteler, whose first Barca goal came as a result of an unnecessary loss of the ball, had to be replaced before the break after a blow to her foot.
Marc Heinrich and Alex Westhoff Published/Updated: Recommendations: 6 Peter Heß Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2 Alex Westhoff Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1
Not good omens for the following week with three home games: In the Bundesliga this and next Sunday we play against Cologne and Essen, with the farewell match in the European Cup against Rosengard taking place on Wednesday. After clearly missing the quarter-finals, the players vowed in Barcelona that they wanted to finish at least among the top 16 teams in Europe next season.
As a prerequisite for this, third place in the league must be defended until the end of the season. Because the squad is small and the performance gap is large, the question remains whether the SGE will respond to the transfer market in the short term. With the up-and-coming Lisanne Gräwe, there is a player who could take over Pawollek’s position in central defensive midfield. But entrusting the center to a 20-year-old without having a backup in the squad seemed very risky for the remaining goals.