Five-star Eintracht Frankfurt dominate Galatasaray in Champions League opener | OneFootball

Eintracht Frankfurt hosted Galatasaray SK at Deutsche Bank Park on a mild Thursday evening in the opening match for both sides in their 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaigns.

The hosts kicked off the first half, attacking right to left. Two minutes in, they would have the first chance of the match, as Ansgar Knauff would take a pass from Nathaniel Brown before launching a shot towards the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box; Uğurcan Çakır would go down to meet the attempt, deflecting it away with his gloves for a corner. Çakır would grab onto the following cross, and Galatasaray would be able to regroup.

This would be followed by some bad news for Frankfurt just two minutes later. While contesting for the ball with Eren Elmalı, Jonathan Burkardt stepped on the boot of the Turkish left-back, sending Elmalı to the ground; the 25-year-old forward would go into the book seconds after. Despite possible concerns of an injury, Elmalı would ultimately continue playing in the sixth minute.

Galatasaray would take the lead in the eighth minute, and it would be Leroy Sané collecting the assist on a quick counterattack, as he managed a ground pass to his left to Yunus Akgün on the left side of the Frankfurt penalty area. Akgün weaved his way around Nnamdi Collins, causing the Germany international to lose his footing, before slamming the ball past Michael Zetterer to put the Turkish side in front.

Ten minutes later, the hosts had a great chance to draw level, but could not make it count. Burkardt would attempt a cross into the centre of the box from the right side of the Galatasaray third, hoping to find Knauff in open space; the lob went past Wilfried Singo and Roland Sallai, but bounced out for a goal kick before Knauff could reach it for a tap-in.

Barış Alper Yılmaz would nearly score a second for the visitors in the twenty-second minute, running into the right side of the box on a counterattack and directing a shot towards the bottom-centre, but Zetterer was able to grab onto the ball in time.

Following a Collins handball at the edge of the box two minutes later, Yılmaz would have another excellent chance on the following free kick; Gündoğan passed to his left, with Yılmaz onside and in open space. The Turkish international would not take advantage of this opportunity either, skying the ball well into the Frankfurt supporters' section.

In the twenty-eighth minute, the visitors would generate another opportunity from the right side of the Frankfurt third, this time on a ground pass from Sallai that skipped past Arthur Theate; Zetterer punched it away, Galatasaray regrouped, and Lucas Torreira's following right-footed longshot went out for a goal kick to the German side.

At the half-hour mark, a Frankfurt free kick cross turned into a near-scare for Galatasaray, once Robin Koch met it and sent his towering header into the centre of the goal area. Elmalı deflected the ball off his chest, and it bounced towards the goal line; both he and Uğurcan Çakır slid to prevent it from going in, and the Aslan maintained their one-goal lead.

Ritsu Dōan would ultimately draw the hosts level with seven minutes remaining in the first half, taking advantage of a giveaway at the edge of the box from Akgün and lifting the ball above Çakır, off Davinson Sánchez, and into the centre of the goal. Akgün claimed that Dōan touched the ball with his arm when bringing down the intercepted ball, but the officials confirmed that it deflected off his shoulder.

Yılmaz thought that he had Galatasaray 2-1 in front in the forty-second minute, sending a free header into the bottom-right corner; however, he was offside in the buildup to the play, and thus the goal came back.

What would not come back was the Frankfurt goal that followed, courtesy of Germany-born Turkish international Can Uzun. Uzun latched onto a right-footed cross into the centre of the Galatasaray penalty area from Burkardt; he would then perform a 180-degree turn before sending a left-footed shot past Gündoğan, into the top-left corner.

Right before the end of the half, Frankfurt would have a third. Farès Chaïbi's cross into the centre of the Galatasaray penalty area met Burkardt, who got to the ball before Wilfried Singo could; Burkardt deflected the ball above a leaping Çakır and into the top-right corner. A lengthy VAR check followed to determine whether Burkardt was onside, but the goal would ultimately stand. That was the final play of the first half, as Frankfurt went into the break ahead by two.

At the break, Galatasaray had 60% possession and shots were 6-4, 2-2 on target. The visitors also had a better pass accuracy, 84% on 265 passes compared to 73% on 170 passes for Eintracht Frankfurt. In the opposing third, Frankfurt had a 51% accuracy on 45 passes, compared to 76% on 33 from Galatasaray.

Uzun would launch the first shot on target of the second half, but it would come in the fifty-seventh minute from outside the box; his right-footed attempt did not test Çakır too much, as the 29-year-old goalkeeper easily went down to grab the ball with both hands.

Three minutes later, Yılmaz would run into the left side of the Frankfurt box, with both Collins and Dōan in front of him; despite the former managing a sliding tackle, the ball stayed in play and Yılmaz quickly flicked it to Gündoğan. The 34-year-old German midfielder powered a half-volley towards the top-left corner from close range, but with a split-second to react, Zetterer grabbed onto it with both hands.

Gündoğan would follow with another opportunity, this time from well outside the box, in the sixty-fourth minute. Zetterer would play it quickly with a long throw to Theate, starting a counter for the hosts; Theate passed to Brown on the left side of the Galatasaray half, and Brown launched a cross into the centre of the box. Knauff was unable to get to the middle of the box for a header, but Burkardt was already there, and his ensuing header found its way over the line to put the hosts 4-1 ahead.

The hosts would add a fifth in the seventy-second minute. Gabriel Sara, who entered the match in Gündoğan's place just six minutes earlier, attempted a backpass to Çakır - this was quickly intercepted by a clean Elye Wahi slide tackle. The ball landed to Knauff, unopposed in the centre of the box; he rounded the Turkish goalkeeper before easily tapping the ball into the middle of the net.

Galatasaray would have one more opportunity in the final minutes, an unsuccessful corner that was punched away by Zetterer; the visitors did not pose too much of a threat to Frankfurt’s four-goal advantage in the last twenty minutes, stopped in the midfield a series of times. Italian official Marco Guida would eventually draw a close to the match, as the German side would walk out 5-1 victors.

Eintracht Frankfurt continue their Bundesliga campaign on Sunday, hosting 1. FC Union Berlin (15:30 CET); the next time they play in the Champions League will be on Tuesday, 30 September (21:00 CET) against Atlético de Madrid in the Spanish capital.