Preview: Munich calling

In partnership with

Eintracht Frankfurt

·17 February 2026

Preview: Munich calling

On the back of their first win of the year, Eintracht travel to FC Bayern on Matchday 23, with Robin Koch aware the Eagles need “a perfect performance at the Allianz Arena.”

Backdrop

OneFootball Videos

After the vital 3-0 victory at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, the relief among the Eintracht players and staff was palpable. “It was very important for the team to finally win again and especially to have the feeling of having won deservedly – this will help the boys,” said board member for sport Markus Krösche.

With that feeling, the Eagles travel to Munich this weekend to take on league leaders Bayern on Saturday 21 February (15:30 CET). It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that the Eagles will need to show the same mentality again in their defending if they’re to cause a surprise against the defending German champions. “You always have to go to the absolute limit against Bayern to have any chances of success,” said captain Robin Koch. “We need a perfect performance to get anything there.” The hosts’ impressive stats from the first 22 matchdays of this Bundesliga season back that up:

The tally of 57 points at this stage in the campaign has only been bettered by Bayern themselves in the 2013/14 and 2015/16 campaigns. Both times, incidentally, under Pep Guardiola – a good friend of Albert Riera. The Munich side’s current points average of 2.58 per game is the best in Europe’s top five leagues this season.
Bayern’s haul of 82 goals after 22 matchdays is a league record. That’s an average of 3.7 strikes per game.
Harry Kane alone has been responsible for 26 of those. The Englishman has already surpassed his total from the previous season.
Likewise, Michael Olise has provided 16 assists so far this season, already as many as he registered in the whole of the 2024/25 campaign.

All numbers aside, history has shown that it is possible to come back from Munich with something.

Looking back

In 2021, the Eagles triumphed 2-1 at the Allianz Arena thanks to goals from Martin Hinteregger and Filip Kostic, claiming their first win away to Bayern in 21 years.

In total, the two clubs have met 109 times in the Bundesliga and 154 times in all competitions, domestic and European, since 1946. So, it’s a fixture that comes with plenty of tradition.

Preparations under way

Preparations for the clash with Bayern, who have won nine, drawn one and lost one of their 11 league games at home, started on the training pitches at Deutsche Bank Park on Tuesday. Coach Riera has a full week to work with his team. “Every training session helps,” said Krösche on Saturday. “Bayern are obviously on another level, but the time will help the team to implement certain things.”

And time will tell what the Eagles are capable of achieving in Munich. As ever, anything is possible.