Bayern’s Rampage in Frankfurt: A 5-0 Thrashing That Left Eintracht Reeling

There are beatings, there are hidings, and then there’s whatever this was. Bayern Munich rolled into a rainy Frankfurt and delivered ninety minutes of controlled, almost casual cruelty. Five goals, eight shots on target, forty-three touches in the opposition box, and a Frankfurt side that looked like they’d never met each other before kick-off. It finished 5-0, but the gulf felt closer to double figures. José Barcala’s team didn’t just win; they dissected.

From the very first minute, you could feel which way the wind was blowing. Frankfurt, in their familiar 4-4-2, wanted to sit narrow and spring Anyomi and Freigang on the break. Bayern, starting in a 4-2-3-1 that quickly became a 3-2-5 in possession, simply refused to let them breathe. Giulia Gwinn stepped into midfield alongside Caruso, Kett inverted from the left, and suddenly Frankfurt’s midfield was being bypassed like it wasn’t there. The passing maps tell the story brutally: Bayern completed 209 passes in Frankfurt’s half to Frankfurt’s 114 in Bayern’s.

First Half Overview

The opener arrived in the 12th minute, and it was the sort of goal Frankfurt had spent pre-season drilling how not to concede. A throw-in deep in Bayern’s half, three passes, Dallmann sliding Bühl into the channel, one touch, bang bottom corner. Clinical doesn’t cover it. Frankfurt barely had time to swear before Bayern were queuing up again. Viggósdóttir missed a free header from six yards in the 9th, Eriksson rattled the post on 31 minutes, and Harder dragged one just wide on 28 minutes. The pressure was suffocating.

Then, right on the stroke of half-time, the dam broke. 45th minute: Harder spins away from Veit on the left touchline, reverse pass, Damnjanović taps in at the back post. Forty-five seconds later: Bühl cuts inside again, squares it, Harder smashes into the roof of the net. Six minutes, two goals, game over. You could almost hear the air leave the stadium. Frankfurt’s captain, Laura Freigang, had 19 touches in the entire first half. Nineteen.

Bühl was unplayable, drifting inside off the left, linking with Harder like they’d been playing together for a decade rather than a season. Dallmann, quiet by her own sky-high standards in recent weeks, suddenly remembered she’s one of the best number tens in Europe, completing 51 of 54 passes and creating four chances before the break.

Second Half Overview

Barcala made one change at half-time, Şehitler for Dallmann, and Bayern just carried on where they left off. Three minutes after the restart, Bühl danced past Wolter again and rolled across for Damnjanović to sweep home her second with the outside of the boot. At 4-0, the sensible thing would have been to take the foot off the gas. Bayern instead smelled blood.

Arnautis threw on Raso, Ivelj, and Açikgöz around the 72nd minute, desperate for some pride, but the substitutes barely touched the ball. In the 67th, Harder dropped deep, turned Gräwe inside out, and slid Şehitler clean through for the fifth. Even with the game dead, Bayern kept coming. Gilles had a late header well saved, and Dunst forced another stop from Altenburg in the 93rd minute. They could have had seven or eight on another day.

Bühl finished with two goals and three assists before being mercifully withdrawn at 59 minutes. Harder was involved in four of the five and completed more progressive passes than Frankfurt’s entire midfield combined. Caruso and Tanikawa ran the centre of the park like it was a training session 92 % and 89 % pass accuracy, 20 duels won between them. Gwinn, playing almost as a third central midfielder at times, was outrageous.

It was a horror show for Frankfurt. Freigang isolated, Anyomi feeding on scraps, and Senß giving away five fouls and being hooked before the hour. Ilestedt won everything in the air, but even she couldn’t stop the tide. Lina Altenburg made three good saves but will still have nightmares about the ones she couldn’t reach. Frankfurt were simply outclassed in every department.

Player Ratings

Player of the Match: Pernille Harder (Bayern München)