Frankfurt Vs Napoli Highlights
Victor Osimhen scored again on Tuesday to help Napoli to a 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
The Nigeria forward scored his 10th goal in his last eight appearances across all competitions, opening the scoring in the 40th minute after a period of concerted pressure from the visitors.
Osimhen had just hit the post and team-mate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a penalty saved by Frankfurt captain Kevin Trapp as he faced deafening whistles from the home supporters.
Frankfurt journey over League
Eintracht Frankfurt and Napoli will both be looking to draw first blood in their Champions League last-16 showdown when they meet for the first leg at Deutsche Bank Park on Tuesday night.
While there are higher-profile fixtures taking place in this round of Europe’s premier club competition, this contest could yet prove to be a dark horse as the tie of the round with both sides going into this first leg in good goalscoring form.
Some of Europe’s most in-form players will also be on show, with Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani starring in the Bundesliga this season and Napoli duo Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen leading the charge to a first Scudetto since the days of Diego Maradona.
Buoyed by Kvaratskhelia’s penalty miss, Frankfurt began pushing forward as the jubilant fans got louder and the game wilder. Watch Frankfurt vs Napoli Highlights on UKsports.
The contest will be Frankfurt’s first taste of the knockout rounds in the Champions League era, although they do have substantial European pedigree having won the Europa League last season and famously reached the European Cup final in 1960, when they were on the end of a hammering at the hands of the great Real Madrid team of Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas as Hampden Park.
Neither side has enjoyed sustained success in Europe throughout the years, though, meaning that they have only met on two previous occasions ahead of this enticing encounter.
Both of those came in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup in the 1994-95 season, and it is Frankfurt who boast an unblemished record from those games.
Frankfurt’s hopes of mounting a comeback were dealt a major blow minutes before when star forward Randal Kolo Muani was sent off for catching Anguissa with his open sole as both went for the ball. It means the French forward will be suspended for the second leg in Naples.
Frankfurt do have a longer history against Italian teams in general, losing just two of their 11 matches including those two previous meetings with Napoli
Napoli’s journey over League
Hirving Lozano capitalized on the extra space, racing down the right wing and crossing for Osimhen’s easy finish at the back post. They repeated the trick a minute later, but this time the goal was chalked out for offside.
Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored the second goal in the 65th minute by finishing a wonderful team move with a sweeping, curled shot inside the far post after Kvaratskhelia back-heeled the ball into his path. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa had played the Georgian in with a weighted through ball.
Napoli, who lead Serie A by 15 points, seemed rattled early on with uncharacteristic mistakes before Osimhen settled the visitors’ nerves.
As on this occasion, the German outfit hosted the first of those matches in November 1994, and it was a night to forget for their Italian visitors.
Future Ballon d’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro was sent off for Napoli shortly before half time thanks to a second bookable offence, before a Renato Buso own goal 10 minutes after the restart condemned the visitors to defeat.
The return fixture in Naples was also decided by just a solitary goal as Jupp Heynckes’s Frankfurt side safely secured their passage through to the next round courtesy of Ralf Falkenmayer’s 54th-minute strike.
Six of those 11 games have ended in victory, while they are unbeaten in their last four outings against Serie A clubs stretching back to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Palermo in the 2006-07 UEFA Cup group stage.
Napoli, meanwhile, have won on their last two trips to Germany, having previously failed to win any of their first 10 such fixtures, drawing five and losing five.
The Serie A leaders’ most recent away game against German opposition came in February 2018, when they beat RB Leipzig 2-0. Watch Frankfurt vs Napoli Highlights on UKsports.