Against FC Barcelona
Eintracht and coach Toppmöller under pressure
December 9, 2025 – 2:21 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Things haven’t gone well for Frankfurt in the premier class so far. Eintracht also suffered a heavy defeat in the Bundesliga. Coach and club are under pressure.
With four points from five games, the Hessians are currently only in 28th place, which is not enough to make it into the playoff round. The Catalans, trained by former national coach Hansi Flick, are in 18th place with seven points. Frankfurt also lost the duels against Atlético (1:5), Liverpool (1:5) and Atalanta (0:3). After the 6-0 defeat in the Bundesliga against RB Leipzig, Eintracht is also under pressure – coach Toppmöller is also in the spotlight.
At the press conference before the premier class game against Barça, the coach said about the excitement around him that as a coach he had to “keep blocking out these noises”. The focus is “on the team”.
In addition, Toppmöller emphasized with reference to the heavy defeat against Leipzig: “I won’t give any insight into what happened behind closed doors in the last two days. But one thing is clear: when you lose a game, especially in the way that you did now in the second half, you have to address things and sometimes put your finger in the wound.”
What is important is how you react to it. Eintracht were 2-0 down in Leipzig until half-time and then conceded four more goals in the second half. The positive: Toppmöller can rely on offensive player Ansgar Knauff again. The 23-year-old was missing from the recent defeat due to illness and will probably start from the start.
The two injured strikers Jonathan Burkardt and Michy Batshuayi are not available. The 32-year-old Belgian suffered a metatarsal fracture and has already undergone surgery. Toppmöller also said before the duel with coach Hansi Flick’s team: “The good thing is that we have a direct chance to do better. We have to focus on the things that we have in our hands. Our attitude, our body language, our effort.” If that’s true, Toppmöller can probably take a deep breath after the game.