5 reasons Frankfurt will qualify for the Champions League | OneFootball

5 reasons Eintracht Frankfurt will qualify for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League

Eintracht Frankfurt are tantalisingly close to joining Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and another to-be-determined Bundesliga club in next season's UEFA Champions League. bundesliga.com explains why Dino Toppmöller's swashbuckling ensemble will get the job done...

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1) It's in their hands

Starting with the obvious, Frankfurt are third going into the final three matches of the season with a six-point cushion on fifth. If they win at seventh-placed Mainz on Matchday 32, Eintracht will be all but over the line, given their vastly superior goal difference over the chasing pack.

Failing that, they can seal the deal at home to lowly, but almost mathematically safe St. Pauli on the penultimate weekend which, in turn, would render their final-day trip to fourth-in-the-table Freiburg academic - at least for them.

2) The best Frankfurt yet?

Eintracht's 4-0 win against fellow top-four hopefuls RB Leipzig just last weekend was the club's record-equalling 16th in a single Bundesliga campaign. One more triumph will wrap up the outright record, while a minimum of six points from their final three games would result in their highest-ever tally, taking them past Adi Hütter's class of 2020/21, who finished fifth on 60 points. Indeed, Toppmöller's Eagles are poised to become the first to land inside the top four in 32 years.

Dino Toppmöller's second season in charge of Frankfurt is shaping up to be one for the history books. (IMAGO/Grant Hubbs)

3) Goal brokers

It's fitting that Frankfurt is Germany's financial capital because Eintracht are filthy rich when it comes to the most precious commodity in football: goals. Only leaders Bayern Munich (90; 2.9) and holders Bayer Leverkusen (66; 2.12) have fared better than the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League winners (62; 2.0) for total goals and goals per game this season, but it's Frankfurt who have the best spread of different scorers with 17.

They're also top dogs for counter-attacking goals (11), second only to Bayern in the Expected Goals department (66.5 compared to 77) and third for goals from set-pieces (13). Had they not been denied by the woodwork some 17 times across 31 games, Toppmöller's free-scoring charges would have an even healthier balance sheet (their goal difference is currently +20).

4) Main men

Hugo Ekitiké's a leading candidate for star performer, the former Paris Saint-Germain forward having scored a career-best 15 goals in his first full season of Bundesliga football. The Frenchman functioned brilliantly alongside Omar Marmoush in the early part of 2024/25 and has flourished further still in the wake of the Egyptian's January move to Manchester City, but it's taken more than one man to give the Eagles wings.

Drawing on Toppmöller's tactical nous, Kevin Trapp's long-celebrated heroics, the tenacious Robin Koch, the engine of Ellyes Skhiri, Mario Götze's evergreen displays and the lively contributions of youngsters such as Nathaniel Brown, Can Uzun and Jean-Mattéo Bahoya, Eintracht are a team in the truest sense of the word; one tailor-made for the European continent's top stage.

5) The Frankfurt faithful

There have been more highs than lows, but fans don't just sing when they're winning in these parts. Eintracht's army of supporters are some of the most dedicated, passionate and loyal in the business, and a huge motivating factor behind the club's success this and in previous seasons.

Home or away, rain or shine - there is always a heartfelt refrain or majestic Tifo to lift the spirits and inspire magnificent nights like the recent Leipzig win or growing volume of European escapades down the years. The 2025/26 Champions League will certainly be a better place for them!

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