Eintracht Frankfurt’s route to the DFB-Pokal final

This is the 80th season of the annual German football cup competition.

A week after the exhilarating end to the Bundesliga season comes the showpiece DFB-Pokal final between Eintracht Frankfurt and current holders RB Leipzig. Frankfurt fans will travel to the capital. dreaming that their side can adorn their trophy cabinet with a sixth DFB-Pokal. A tally that would render them second only to Bayern Munich.

Road to the Final

First Round: Magdeburg 0-4 Eintracht Frankfurt

After just four minutes, Kamada gave Eintracht a 1-0 lead, with Kostic doing the preliminary work from the left. Lindström made it much better with a sensitive long-range shot and scored to make it 2-0 (31st). The Frankfurters now clearly control the events. Again, Knauff hit the crossbar of the Magdeburg goal with his shot in added time.

Eintracht Frankfurt had the better scoring chances again with the restart. Kamada increased to 3:0 (59th), and four minutes later Borré missed the 4:0 from a promising position. The new signings, Randal Kolo Muani and Alario managed to make it 4-0.

Second Round: Stuttgarter Kickers 0-2 Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt had already knocked out their opponents’ city rivals, Stuttgarter Kickers, earlier in the tournament, and they grabbed a quick-fire double to sensationally turn the tie on its head after the break.

Ever the creative force in Frankfurt’s attack, Kolo Muani set up the first when he brought the ball down for Evan Ndicka to strike a powerful volley, assisted by Rafael Borré. And then quickly, Smolcic's (18') header gave them a 2-0 advantage from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Mario Götze with a cross following a corner.

Last-16: Eintracht Frankfurt 4-2 SV Darmstadt 98

Eintracht Frankfurt had a lot of work against the leaders of the second Bundesliga at the time, who suddenly led the way with a Honsak brace (29th/31st) after Kolo Muani's opening goal (6th). Two goals and an assist from Randal Kolo Muani gave Eintracht Frankfurt a 4-2 win over Darmstadt 98 to reach the German Cup quarterfinals. Psychologically important, Borré equalises before the break (44th). Kamada (62nd) and Kolo Muani (90th) secure Frankfurt's progress in a thrilling duel in Hessen.

Quarter Final: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 FC Union Berlin

As in all previous rounds, Eintracht led early. Within 91 seconds, Randal Kolo Muani tied the brace (11th and 12th), both served wonderfully by Mario Götze. The win against the Irons was the 15th success in the DFB-Pokal Cup quarter-finals from 19 attempts and the fourth in a row in this phase of the competition without conceding a goal; the opponent was a Bundesliga club in Deutsche Bank Park on each occasion.

Semi-Final: Vfb Stuttgart 2-3 Eintracht Frankfurt

Tiago Tomás put Stuttgart ahead in the 19th minute as the home team got off to a better start. But Stuttgart also missed good opportunities, and the visitors improved, particularly after Stuttgart defender Konstantinos Mavropanos had to go off with an injury.

Kolo Muani set up Evan Ndicka’s equaliser in the 51st, four minutes before Daichi Kamada got Frankfurt’s second. Kolo Muani sealed the win from the penalty spot in the 77th after he was brought down on a counterattack by Stuttgart goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow, who was booked. Enzo Millot pulled one back against the run of play for Stuttgart in the 83rd, before the home team had defender Borna Sosa sent off with two yellow cards in quick succession.

Eintracht Frankfurt earned a date at the Olympiastadion in June as an outstanding second-half display against Stuttgart catapulted Die Adler to its first DFB Pokal final since 2018, a 3-2 victory meaning they will travel to Berlin to face RB Leipzig in German football’s most anticipated fixture.

Frankfurt have shown in recent years that they have a cup pedigree, with the Europa League last year and two DFB Pokal final appearances in 2017 and 2018. The Eagles have been eliminated in the first main round three times in the past ten years, most recently in 2021 in Mannheim, so to go on and win it this season would be a great turnaround.