Next defeat
Frankfurt crash also continues against Leverkusen
Updated on January 31, 2026 – 5:37 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Next defeat for Eintracht Frankfurt. The Hessians are simply not making any progress in the Bundesliga.
Eintracht Frankfurt remains the problem child of the Bundesliga. On Saturday there was nothing for Frankfurt to gain against Bayer Leverkusen – a 3-1 defeat in front of their home crowd. The Hessians have been waiting for success across all competitions since the 14th matchday in December.
Arthur (26′) and Malik Tillman (33′) quickly put Leverkusen in front, and Robin Koch (49′) was only able to score the next goal. In stoppage time, Aleix Garcia made everything clear with the 3-1 (90th + 3). Frankfurt’s Ellyes Skhiri was sent off with a yellow-red card in the 71st minute because he had received two yellow cards within three minutes.
On Monday, the Spaniard Albert Riera will take over as the new coach at Eintracht, with the aim of stopping the negative trend.
Eintracht once again appeared too vulnerable defensively and have already conceded 20 goals in seven games this calendar year. A lot of work awaits the new coach, at least the attitude in the second round was right.
Despite the negative series, interim coach Dennis Schmitt urged calm on the sidelines before his final game. “It’s no use running around emotionally and telling everyone how important the game is,” the 32-year-old said. On Monday, the Spaniard Riera comes from Slovenian Conference League participant NK Celje and takes over Schmitt’s tasks, he is supposed to get Eintracht back on track.
Eintracht started powerfully and highly motivated in the first few minutes, but were unlucky. In the crowd, Leverkusen national player Robert Andrich kicked striker Arnaud Kalimuendo in the calf (5th). According to the images, referee Robert Schröder said the contact was not enough for a penalty.
After the minute-long break, the game lost some of its pace. Leverkusen had more possession of the ball and, thanks to a flash of inspiration from Grimaldo, undermined the Frankfurt defense. The Spaniard laid the ball off beautifully and cleverly to Arthur, who ran away from Nathaniel Brown in the penalty area and hit the far corner. Seven minutes later, Christian Kofane fed the free-standing Tillmann on the edge of the penalty area, who with a good overview made it 2-0.
