Aberdeen take on Eintracht Frankfurt in their first Europa Conference League game on Thursday night.
The Dons dropped down from the Europa League qualifiers but will find the level of opponent no easier.
Here is the lowdown on the Pittodrie side’s adversaries in Germany.
Form
Eintracht Frankfurt are unbeaten this season in seven games over three competitions. They knocked out Levski Sofia in the Europa Conference League on a 3-1 aggregate, beat Lokomotiv Leipzig 7-0 in the German Cup and most recently drew 1-1 away to Bochum in the Bundesliga. Frankfurt are in ninth place in the Bundesliga with six points from four games, four points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. They will consider themselves among the favourites to win the Europa Conference League.
Manager
Dino Toppmoller was appointed head coach of Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer, following a stint as assistant manager to Julian Nagelsmann at Bayern Munich. Toppmoller was also assistant to Nagelsmann at RB Leipzig. The 42-year-old had a brief spell as a player at Manchester City after signing in 2001 but never impacted the first team and he also played for Frankfurt amongst a host of other clubs. He is the son of former West Germany international Klaus Toppmoller who also managed Eintracht Frankfurt in 1993-94 as well as Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Georgia.
Players
Eintracht lost quality from their squad with the departures of striker Randal Kolo Muani to PSG for a reported 95 million euros and attacking midfielder Jesper Lindstrom to Napoli for 30 million euros. The most famous face in the current squad is Mario Gotze, who scored the 2014 World Cup final winner for Germany. Goalkeeper Kevin Trapp is in the Germany squad at the moment and he is remembered for the crucial save from Rangers attacker Ryan Kent at the end of extra-time in the 2022 Europa League final in Seville which kept the score 1-1 before he saved a penalty from Aaron Ramsey in the shootout. Japan international Makoto Hasebe, who will turn 40 in January, could also feature. New faces include Egypt attacker Omar Marmoush, signed from Wolfsburg, Germany Under-21 international Jessic Ngankam, who was bought from Hertha, and Tunisia midfielder Ellyes Skhiri, who was at Koln.
European pedigree
Eintracht Frankfurt are one of the traditional names in European football. To the older generation, they are the club which lost 7-3 to star-studded Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup final at Hampden Park, widely considered to be one of the best finals of them all. The German outfit beat Rangers 12-4 on aggregate in the semi-final that season and they again ended Light Blues hopes of European glory more recently. The Bundesliga side beat Rangers on penalties in the 2022 Europa League final in Seville following a 1-1 draw. Eintracht beat Aberdeen 2-1 on aggregate in the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1979-80 and went on to win the final, beating fellow German side Borussia Monchengladbach on away goals after the two-legged tie ended 3–3 on aggregate.
