As frustrating as it was for Bayern Munich as control of their eventual 3-2 Bundesliga win over Eintracht Frankfurt slipped from their grasp, the more elating it was for Frankfurt. Die Adler have had a rotten 2026 to date, as their run of matches without a win went up to 8 as previous head coachDino Toppmöller left the club and, amid delays in getting a new permanent hire in the position, an interim was put in place. But new head coach Albert Riera has had a positive impact since arriving, with a draw
and then a win to finally break the run without a win.
A trip to Munich is never what the doctor ordered for a team trying to steady themselves again, though, so there was a certain trepidation in the fandom ahead of their away match against Die Rekordmeister. The expected result did come to pass as Bayern won the match, but after a terrible first half Frankfurt really found their footing and made the Bavarians sweat.
Accordingly, Frankfurt were happy about the performance and especially the improvements shown in the second half.
“I’m responsible for the plan and the positioning, but ultimately the players are the most important thing,” Riera said, as captured by Bayern’s official website. “At halftime, I told the lads that we were 2-0 down due to two set pieces and that we didn’t need to hide. We only made minor adjustments at halftime and did much better in the second half.”
Striker Jonathan Burkardt, who made his first appearance since his injury in November, reduced the arrears to 3-1 and echoes the belief his head coach found in the second half: “We got into the game too late, but we can also take a lot of positives away from it. Hitting the post obviously hurts. We played well in the second half, but still deserved to lose. When you’re so close at the end, you would naturally have liked to take something away from the game. We’ve seen that if we stick to our style of play, it can work against any opponent.”
Defender Nmandi Collins, meanwhile, only had eyes for the future of the club with Riera as coach: “We all try our best to implement the things we come up with in training. I am very happy, the cooperation is very good and harmonious.”
Now the imperative for Frankfurt is for them to carry this momentum into the next matches and make up some points on the teams above them.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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