Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Atalanta: UEFA Champions League LIVE blog and team news

Having rediscovered their form in the Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt will look to get their UEFA Champions League campaign back on track when they welcome Atalanta to Deutsche Bank Park on Wednesday (kick-off: 9pm CET).

Saturday’s 4-3 victory over Cologne lifted the Eagles up to sixth and extended their unbeaten run in Germany’s top flight to five matches, since a 3-0 defeat at home to leaders Bayern Munich in early October.

Dino Toppmöller’s side have yet to return to winning ways in Europe, however, having lost to Atlético Madrid and Liverpool and drawn with Napoli since a thumping 5-1 victory over Galatasaray in their league-phase opener.

Eintracht will take plenty of heart from that recent stalemate in Naples, where they registered one of only three clean sheets so far this season thanks to a superb defensive display.

Watch: Cologne 3-4 Frankfurt - highlights

Scoring goals has been far less of a problem. Only Bayern have found the net more often in the league than Frankfurt this season, with Jonathan Burkardt bagging eight of the Eagles’ 27 across the opening 11 matchdays.

The 25-year-old will look to build on his third double of the season at the RheinEnergieSTADION on Saturday, but the visit of Atalanta is set to come too soon for Can Uzun, who has missed Frankfurt’s last three games with a hamstring injury.

Hugo Larsson and Oscar Højlund are also likely to miss out with muscle injuries. Other than that, though, Toppmöller is set to have a full squad to choose from.

Translation: One special, please!

The Eintracht coach’s opposite number, Raffaele Palladino, also has a relatively clean bill of health going into Wednesday’s game. Defender Giorgio Scalvini is on the brink of a return from an adductor problem, with ex-Bayer Leverkusen defender Mitchel Bakker – who tore his cruciate knee ligament in the summer – their only confirmed absentee.

The Bergamo outfit have drawn eight times in Serie A so far this season, but are in a healthier position in the Champions League, having beaten Club Brugge and Marseille either side of a goalless draw with Slavia Prague since a 4-0 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain in September.

Victory at Deutsche Bank Park would lift Eintracht level on points with Palladino’s charges and on the brink of the knockout phase play-off places, with three league-phase encounters left to play.

Frankfurt haven't scored against Italian opposition since a 1-0 victory at Inter Milan in 2019. - imago images / Revierfoto

Match stats

• This is the first UEFA competition meeting between Frankfurt and Atalanta.
• Only Hoffenheim and Stuttgart have picked up more Bundesliga points from losing positions than Frankfurt (five) this season.
• Burkardt has scored twice on three separate occasions for Frankfurt this season, including in the 5-1 win over Galatasaray.
• The Eagles have failed to score in their last four UEFA competition meetings with Italian clubs, since a 1-0 victory at Inter Milan in the last 16 of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League.
• Atalanta are aiming for a third straight victory over Bundesliga opposition, following a 3-0 win over Leverkusen in the 2023/24 Europa League final and a 2-0 triumph at VfB Stuttgart in the Champions League last term.
• They have lost only two of their last 18 UEFA competition matches against German opposition (W10 D6).

Probable line-ups

Frankfurt: Zetterer - Collins, Koch (c), Theate, Brown - Dahoud, Chaïbi - Dōan, Götze, Knauff - Burkardt
Out: Uzun (hamstring), Larsson (muscle), Højlung (muscle)
Doubtful: -
Coach: Dino Toppmöller

Atalanta: Carnesecchi - Djimsiti, Hien, Ahanor - Bellanova, De Roon (c), Éderson, Zappacosta - Pašalić - De Ketelaere, Lookman
Out: Bakker (knee)
Doubtful: Scalvini (adductor)
Coach: Raffaele Palladino

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