Barry Robson spares Aberdeen FC video rerun of Frankfurt demolition job on Bayern as he draws Conference League parallels
The Bundesliga sie battered the Bavarians at the weekend but Robson reckons it will be all change for their trip to Pittdorie.
Barry Robson left Eintracht Frankfurt’s battering of Bayern Munich out of Aberdeen’s pre-match video analysis.
The Bundesliga side arrived in Aberdeen last night, fresh from their shock 5-1 demolition of Bayern Munich. The Dons face up to on-form Eintracht as they sign off their Europa Conference League adventure at Pittodrie. The Germans have already secured second spot and qualification while the Dons are playing for pride.
Aberdeen might have a Viaplay Cup Final this weekend but Robson is adamant his attention is all on Eintracht and a lot of the video analysis was more on what his team did right in Frankfurt – where they narrowly lost 2-1 in the group opener. Robson admitted: “Yes, there wasn’t anything of it [5-1 win] in our analysis meeting. They’ve changed shape a bit recently and they have struggled in the league. The European thing might have taken it out of them as well.
“We did a lot of analysis from the first time we played them and we don’t know what their team is going to be. We were pretty close to guessing the team last time but this might be a bit different. It is one we will have to wait until the team comes in.”
Robson is likely to change his team, like he did in Helsinki, with Hampden in his thoughts. Dante Polvara has insisted nobody is giving the Viaplay Cup Final a second though because Frankfurt is such a big occasion.
The American midfielder stated: “We all understand the importance of Sunday but I think we are treating this game just the same as we did the first game.
“Obviously we can’t advance in Europe but we’re playing against a massive club with some great players, so of course we’ll be up for it. Playing in a European game is a privilege, it’s the kind of thing you dream about when you’re a young player.
“And when it’s against a team who is up there with the big boys in Europe then even more so. So we’re really excited about it and we’re all looking forward to showing what we can bring to the table.”
Polvara has come to the fore especially in Europe with some big goals against Frankfurt and PAOK. Polvara, however, reckons bowing out with a win tonight would top the lot and he takes more confidence from the way Aberdeen pushed them all the way in Germany.
Polvara said: “We were in that right to the end when Ester Sokler had a chance and could have got us a point. So we will think back to that, we’re at home now and hopefully we’ll be more relaxed because for a lot of us it was our first European game.
“We’re more used to it now and have played five group-stage games, so we have a bit more experience. We can take a lot of confidence from the way we have played in some of the games.”
Aberdeen have been frustrated that their points haven’t matched their performances but Polvara believes they will be prepared if they can get the club back to the group stage. He explained: “We have been frustrated, the theme of the season so far has been putting in good performances and leaving short-handed.
“That’s how football is sometimes, you can play poorly and get the three points. We have played well in most of the games and have left points on the table, so there has been a lot of frustration.
“Although we haven’t been able to go through, we want to be back here next year and get the fans back to European football again. We want to give them a sense of pride that this team can handle this level of competition.”