5 reasons Eintracht Frankfurt will progress against Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals
It's crunch time for Eintracht Frankfurt in their UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie against English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. bundesliga.com has five reasons the Eagles can fly past their London-based rivals and into the tournament's last four...
1) Eagles soaring
They may have suffered the odd blip here and there this term but, by and large, this has been a record-breaking season for Eintracht. Currently chasing a UEFA Champions League finish in the Bundesliga, Dino Toppmöller's men have been rubbing shoulders with leaders Bayern Munich and defending champions Bayer Leverkusen in the standings for most of the campaign.
Frankfurt are on an eight-game unbeaten sequence to start the calendar year - a first under their current coach They've also already won more Bundesliga games this term than they managed last campaign.
That confidence shone in a respectable 1-1 draw in the first leg in London. While Frankfurt have every chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League, Tottenham (14th in the Premier League) face the added pressure of needing to win the trophy to seal a spot in Europe in any shape.
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2) Young guns
Frankfurt's youthful squad is the envy of Europe right now. From the likes of Germany U21 defenders Nathaniel Brown and Nnamdi Collins to Can Uzun, Jean-Mattéo Bahoya, Elye Wahi and star striker Hugo Ekitiké - who scored the brilliant opener in London - Frankfurt have starlets across the park. The collective pace and enthusiasm mark Eintracht out as one of Europe’s finest in terms of transition play, and Toppmöller will hope to hit Tottenham on the break again in Germany.
With 29 of their goals scored by 10 players under the age of 23, only Strasbourg of Ligue 1 can claim a better youth strike rate in Europe's top five leagues. Ekitiké ranks among the highest in the Bundesliga in terms of Expected Goals while Uzun (19) recently scored his fourth Bundesliga goal.
Goalkeeper Kauã Santos just turned 22, and has deputised remarkably for the injured Kevin Trapp. A string of stunning saves against Spurs were termed "world class" by Germany legend Lothar Matthäus.
3) Super Mario
Now a veteran of more than 300 Bundesliga appearances and 120 games in European competition, FIFA World Cup winner with Germany Mario Götze is still happily pulling the strings in midfield at the highest level. A scorer of two sublime goals in Eintracht's 4-1 second-leg victory against Ajax in the round of 16, the 32-year-old is showing that his talent and vision are still of the highest quality in the European game.
Having popped up in six positions for Frankfurt so far this season, the former Borussia Dortmund, Bayern and PSV Eindhoven schemer is a lesson in versatility while his eight goal involvements in 33 games across all competitions for Die Adler in 2024/25 mark him out as one to watch for Spurs, who will do well to contain Eintracht's game-changing attacker in front of his own fans. He is, after all, a player still very much capable of unlocking any encounter with a moment of individual brilliance.
4) Final experience
Spurs are two-time winners of the old UEFA Cup, last lifting it in 1984. However, Eintracht's second triumph in this tournament came as recently as 2022, when the Eagles defeated Rangers in a penalty shootout in Seville’s showpiece. Several of the Frankfurt stars from that epic run are still in the side, and that tournament experience could provide the edge.
"It was the most intense experience of our lives," an elated Trapp, who made crucial saves in the game and shootout, said after that win.
Watch: Eintracht will be eager to repeat the celebrations that greeted their 2022 UEFA Europa League triumph
"I'm just happy we did it and now we just want to celebrate with the fans," an equally thrilled Ansgar Knauff added. "We knew that [Trapp] would make a save and the [fans] knew that, too. We did it - it's incredible," the 23-year-old added. Defender Tuta, along with back-up goalkeeper Jens Grahl and former USMNT international Timothy Chandler, are also still at Eintracht having been present in southern Spain for Frankfurt's trophy triumph in 2022.
5) Home advantage in the return
A crucial factor when the Europa League bracket was settled saw Eintracht gain home advantage for the second leg of of their quarter-final against Spurs. Deutsche Bank Park also played host to the second leg when Frankfurt swept aside Ajax in the round of 16 to make it four wins and a draw at home for the Eagles in this season's competition so far.
With no defeats in their own backyard and 11 goals scored in the Europa League in 2024/25, Eintracht, who are also one of the best home teams in the Bundesliga this term, are well positioned indeed to progress after the solid 1-1 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the first leg. Should the return encounter this Thursday go down to the wire, Frankfurt's passionate fans can provide the vital last push to get them over the line and into the final four.
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