Backdrop
The race for the European places is still wide open going into the final day of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. Eintracht, in eighth place with 43 points, are one of the teams in the mix – and yet again it’s Freiburg, one point better off, who are their closest rivals. In 2023 and 2025, the two teams faced off on the final day to decide their fate, with the Eagles achieving their target on both occasions. This year, there’s a three-way battle for eighth place, with Eintracht at home to VfB Stuttgart on Saturday 16 May (15:30 CEST).
Frankfurt can still finish anywhere from seventh to ninth. Here are the various permutations:
- Win: Seventh place, if Freiburg don’t beat Leipzig and Augsburg don’t win and make up the current eight-goal difference against Union Berlin.
- Draw: Seventh place, if Freiburg lose to Leipzig and Augsburg don’t win in Berlin.
- Lose: Eighth place, if Augsburg lose in Berlin and Eintracht maintain their superior goal difference. Ninth place, if Augsburg win or draw in Berlin.
“We have to keep our heads up and keep going,” said Nathaniel Brown. “We believe and we’ll fight for it against Stuttgart. With our fans behind us, we want to win. Then we’ll see what happens.”
It’s also a must-win match for Eintracht’s last opponents of the season. Stuttgart need the points to make sure of the fourth and final Champions League spot ahead of rivals Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen. Frankfurt are aiming to stop them doing just that. It’s all set for a dramatic finale.
Looking back
There’s often been drama when Frankfurt and Stuttgart have met in recent years. Three of the last six competitive encounters between the two teams have ended 3-2, twice in favour of the Eagles – although not in the previous match this season, when VfB netted a late winner after Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab had levelled the score with his debut Bundesliga goal.
The Swabians haven’t had much joy on their travels lately. Stuttgart have won just one of their last six Bundesliga away games, although it was an emphatic 5-2 success at Augsburg – the other club contesting seventh place with Eintracht and Freiburg.
Freiburg, Frankfurt, Augsburg
Who will quality for the UEFA Conference League? This is how things currently stand in the table:
- Freiburg, 7th, 44 points, -9 goal difference: Home match against Leipzig.
- Frankfurt, 8th, 43 points, -4 goal difference: Home match against Stuttgart.
- Augsburg, 9th, 43 points, -12 goal difference: Away match against Union Berlin.
The priority for Eintracht is getting their own job done, and then relying on other results. In order to overtake Freiburg, every single person inside Deutsche Bank Park must rise to the occasion against Stuttgart. “We have a final in Frankfurt on Saturday,” said VfB boss Sebastian Hoeneß after his team’s 3-1 win at home to Leverkusen on Saturday. Indeed it is – but hopefully it will go Eintracht’s way.
