Former Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Lukáš Hradecký celebrates lifting the DFB Cup after beating Bayern Munich in the 2018 final. - © Eberhard Thonfeld/imago/Camera 4

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How Eintracht Frankfurt have troubled Bayern Munich in recent years

20.02.2025

Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich meet for the 153rd time in competitive action when the Eagles visit the high-flying record champions at the Allianz Arena on Matchday 23. Can Dino Toppmöller’s men get another result against the league leaders as they have often managed in seasons gone by?

Follow Bayern vs. Frankfurt on Matchday 23 here!

bundesliga.com takes you through five of Frankfurt's recent victories over the Bavarian giants...

Bayern Munich 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt, 2018 DFB Cup final

With 77 wins to Eintracht's 44, it's not overly surprising that the pendulum of the head-to-head record has swung in Bayern's favour over the years, but Frankfurt's victory in the 2018 DFB Cup final may have tipped the scales slightly. In what was then-Eintracht boss Niko Kovač's last game in charge of the Eagles ahead of his assumption of the reins at Bayern, his side defied the odds to claim cup glory, by beating the record champions for the first time since March 2010.

Ante Rebić bagged a memorable brace to ensure the cup would be going back to Frankfurt. - Lars Baron/GettyImages

Ante Rebić opened the scoring, finishing clinically after dispossessing James Rodríguez inside 12 minutes. The Eagles went into the break ahead, but Robert Lewandowski brought Bayern level less than 10 minutes after the restart. The Eintracht goal lived a charmed life for much of the second half, with Bayern hitting the crossbar twice, but another razor-sharp counter-attack was rounded off by Rebić with just 10 minutes to play. Bayern threw everything forward in the dying minutes, including goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, but Mijat Gaćinović capitalised in stoppage time to break again, securing the 3-1 victory for a Frankfurt side that had just 23 percent possession.

Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 Bayern Munich, 2019/20 Matchday 10

Kovač would have no joy on his return to Frankfurt as this game would prove to be his last game in charge of the record champions. It's remarkable the difference just over a year made for Eintracht, as there were just two players that started for the Eagles who had also started in their cup final victory: David Abraham and Danny da Costa.

Watch: Frankfurt 5-1 Bayern - highlights

A red card for Jérôme Boateng inside 10 minutes got Bayern off to a rocky start and Frankfurt, now under Adi Hütter's management, sensed blood. Filip Kostić ran the show down the left, opening the scoring which was added to by Martin Hinteregger, Abraham, Djibril Sow and Gonçalo Paciência. Despite a Lewandowski goal to briefly make it a touch nervy at 2-1, Eintracht's five different goalscorers from all over the pitch were a testament to their dominance on the day as they claimed a first home victory over the Bavarians for just shy of a decade and subjected Bayern to their heaviest Bundesliga defeat since April 2009.

Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Bayern Munich, 2020/21 Matchday 22

The following season, Hütter ensured that the annual trip to the city on the Main would not be an eagerly anticipated away day in Bayern's calendar. With Luka Jović having returned on loan from Real Madrid in January 2021, following his departure in the summer of 2019, Frankfurt were positive in their thinking that they could go at the Bavarians.

Watch: Frankfurt 2-1 Bayern - highlights

But it wasn't the return of their former talisman that would propel them to victory. Instead, shadow-striker Daichi Kamada opened the scoring early on, before setting up Amin Younes, who dispatched a wonderstrike into the top corner for the Eagles' second at the half-hour mark. The hosts survived late pressure, courtesy of what was becoming an almost obligatory second-half Lewandowski goal, to hold onto their lead, ensuring victory over Bayern at Deutsche Bank Park in successive seasons.

Bayern Munich 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt, 2021/22 Matchday 7

Hütter departed from the Eintracht helm in the summer of 2021, leaving the position to be filled by Austrian compatriot Oliver Glasner. It was a tough start to life under the new boss, having also lost top scorer André Silva to RB Leipzig, as the Eagles failed to win a league fixture until early October, when they travelled to the fortress that is the Allianz Arena.

Watch: Bayern 1-2 Frankfurt - highlights

It looked as if it would be another disappointing day for Frankfurt as Leon Goretzka crowned a dominant opening half-hour with a tidy finish. Frankfurt levelled the scores against the run of play just three minutes later, with Hinteregger paying homage to the 2019 victory as he rose highest to nod home a Kostić corner. Bayern would continue to dominate throughout but Kostić, having already set up his side's first, found the bottom corner with pinpoint accuracy and less than 10 minutes on the clock, to secure Eintracht's first win of the season. Their "extremely clinical" performance, in the words of Thomas Müller, provided them with their first victory away in Munich in over 21 years!

Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 Bayern Munich, 2023/24 Matchday 14

Glasner departed in the summer of 2023, having famously made history by winning the UEFA Europa League in the 2021/22 season. In came Dino Toppmöller, who had previously been Julian Nagelsmann's right-hand man at Leipzig and Bayern. Ultimately steering the Ealges to sixth, Matchday 14 was one of the highlights of his debut campaign.

Watch: Frankfurt 5-1 Bayern - highlights

Recently departed maestro Omar Marmoush opened the scoring before quickfire goals from Éric Dina Ebimbe and Hugo Larsson made it look as if Eintracht would run away with it after half an hour. Despite hope being provided to Bayern in the form of a Joshua Kimmich consolation just before the break, the Eagles continued to run riot after half-time, with Dina Ebimbe consolidating his brace within five minutes of play's resumption. This was then suplemented by an opportunistic Ansgar Knauff finish to make it five at the hour-mark, capping off a five-star team performance. This was the first time Bayern had conceded five in a Bundesliga match since losing by the same scoreline in Frankfurt in 2019.

In recent years, Frankfurt have managed to prove that they can get fairly consistent - and often big - results with an ever-evolving side against the Bavarian giants. For this reason, Toppmöller will be hopeful that his side can cause an upset on Matchday 23, as there is usually someone who will step up to take that responsibility at Eintracht.