Napoli Faces Frankfurt in Crucial Champions League Clash

NAPLES, Italy — Eintracht Frankfurt returns to UEFA Champions League action tonight as they travel south to face reigning Serie A champions SSC Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo.

The match comes as both teams deal with challenging seasons so far. Eintracht, managed by Dino Toppmöller, started their Champions League campaign strong with a 5-1 victory over Galatasaray but then suffered two heavy defeats, 1-5 against Atlético Madrid and Liverpool, leaving them at the bottom of their group.

In contrast, Napoli’s recent European outing saw them drop to 16th place in their group after a shocking 2-6 loss to PSV Eindhoven. Despite this, they managed to bounce back domestically with victories over Inter Milan and Lecce, keeping them at the top of Serie A.

Napoli will be without key players Kevin De Bruyne, Alex Meret, Romelu Lukaku, and Lorenzo Lucca for this important match. In contrast, Frankfurt will miss midfielder Can Uzun due to a muscle injury, while Mario Götze returns to their lineup after injury.

The confirmed starting XIs were announced just an hour before kickoff. Napoli will lineup in a 4-3-3 formation with Milinkovic-Savic in goal, while Frankfurt will play a 3-4-3-1 formation featuring Zetterer in goal.

Eintracht last faced Napoli in the Champions League round of 16 in the 2022/23 season, where they were eliminated by a 2-0 and 3-0 aggregate loss.

Kickoff is set for later today, and the outcome could significantly impact both teams’ positions in the standings, as they look to recover from their recent struggles.