Albert Riera appointed Eintracht Frankfurt head coach on two-and-a-half-year deal | OneFootball

Albert Riera has been appointed Eintracht Frankfurt head coach on a two-and-a-half-year deal. The 43-year-old Spaniard joins from NK Celje to replace Dino Töppmoller, the club announced on Friday, with Eintracht sitting eighth in the Bundesliga.

The former Spain left-back, capped 16 times, is well known in France for two spells at Bordeaux, first as a player from 2003 to 2005, then as head coach from October 2023 to 2024.

That second stint, during Bordeaux’s most recent season in the professional ranks, brought little joy. He took over with the team 13th in Ligue 2 and, despite resources greater than most rivals, finished 12th.

Riera also irked many peers with barbed comments. He renewed that combative streak with fresh jibes aimed at the coaches of Fiorentina and Shamrock Rovers in April and October 2025.

Results in Slovenia have been far stronger. With Celje, the reigning champions, he has dominated the league and currently leads by 12 points. In Europe, his side reached the Europa Conference League quarter-finals last season, losing 1-2 then drawing 2-2 with Fiorentina, a landmark for Slovenian football, and have again reached the competition’s play-offs this season.

Even if achieved in a league of limited profile, those results persuaded Frankfurt, eliminated in the league phase of the Champions League, to hand him a first shot at the elite.

Source: L'Équipe