Seeking to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit, Real Betis will travel to the Waldstadion to face Eintracht Frankfurt for the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday night.
Both sides head into this fixture after winning in their domestic leagues last weekend, with Frankfurt coming from behind to win 2-1 at home to VfL Bochum, while Betis secured a slender 1-0 home victory against Athletic Bilbao.
Match preview
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After four defeats in five matches, Eintracht Frankfurt have since turned their fortunes around with three successive victories in all competitions, including last week's first-leg victory over Real Betis in Spain.
A stroke of luck helped the German outfit take the lead in the 14th minute, after an out-swinging cross from Filip Kostic curled all the way past Claudio Bravo into the top-right corner. A brilliant left-footed strike from Nabil Fekir then restored parity for the hosts on the half-hour mark, but it took just two minutes for Frankfurt to regain the lead, with Jesper Lindstrom setting up Daichi Kamada to tap into an empty net.
Frankfurt missed the chance to score a third five minutes after half time when Rafael Borre's tame penalty was saved comfortably by Bravo, but nevertheless, head coach Oliver Glasner will be delighted with his side's performance and the result.
That result has seen the Eagles extend their unbeaten run in this season's competition to seven games and they are also unbeaten in their last seven encounters against Spanish opposition, last tasting defeat against Deportivo La Coruna in the last 16 of the 1993-94 UEFA Cup.
Although Frankfurt are in the process of resurrecting their Bundesliga form – currently sitting seven points behind the European positions – Glasner's men will now turn their focus to Thursday's second leg, as they bid to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2018-19 when they went on to progress to the last four.
The Germans have advanced from each of their last nine knockout ties in European competition when winning the first leg, so they will be confident of securing at least a draw on home soil in midweek.
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Real Betis' defeat to Frankfurt last week extended their winless run in all competitions to five matches, but a slender success in La Liga against Bilbao on Sunday saw them return to winning ways at a crucial time before the second leg.
Borja Iglesias headed home the game's only goal in the 20th minute, and despite Nabil Fekir receiving a red card in the final 10 minutes for lashing out at Iker Muniain, Los Verdiblancos held on for all three points, to keep them within two points of the Champions League positions.
Manuel Pellegrini's side are sure to have one eye on the top-four race in La Liga, but they must first turn their attention to the second leg of their last-16 tie with Frankfurt, as they bid to progress to the quarter-finals of any major European competition for the first time since 1997-98, when they reached the last eight of the Cup Winners' Cup.
Betis travel to the Waldstadion having already tasted defeat in Germany this season, with a 4-0 group-stage loss against Bayer Leverkusen in October their heaviest defeat in any competition so far this season.
Los Verdiblancos will need to claim their first victory against German opposition since 1995-96, and win by two or more goals, if they are to keep their hopes of Europa League glory alive in midweek.
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Team News
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Frankfurt are sweating over the fitness of Jesper Lindstrom, who picked up an ankle injury against Bochum last weekend and is a major doubt for Thursday's game.
The hosts are still without Danny da Costa (groin), Sebastian Rode (abdominal), Ragnar Ache (thigh) and Diant Ramaj (knee) due to injury.
Forward Goncalo Paciencia who missed the first leg due to suspension, is available to return for the second leg and could replace Lindstrom in the starting lineup, joining Kamada and Borre in attack.
Kristijan Jakic and Djibril Sow are expected to start again in centre-midfield, while goalkeeper Kevin Trapp is set to be protected by centre-backs Evan Ndicka, Martin Hinteregger and Tuta, who all started in the first leg.
As for Real Betis, they are still short of options at full-back, with Alex Moreno, Hector Bellerin, Martin Montoya and Andres Guardado all sidelined with injuries, so left-back Youssouf Sabaly is set to continue out of position at right-back, with Juan Miranda to operate on the opposite side.
Midfielder Victor Camarasa is also ruled out, but playmaker Sergio Canales is expected to start despite carrying a minor toe issue over the last few weeks.
Canales is set to join Fekir and Juanmi in advanced midfield roles behind central striker Willian Jose, who will likely return to the first XI at the expense of Iglesias.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, Ndicka; Knauff, Sow, Jakic, Kostic; Kamara, Paciencia; Borre
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Silva; Sabaly, Pezzella, Gonzalez, Miranda; Carvalho, Rodriguez; Canales, Fekir, Juanmi; Jose
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Real Betis (Eintracht Frankfurt to win 4-2 on aggregate)
A closely-fought contest between two evenly-matched sides is set to be played out in Germany, though Frankfurt have the upper hand with both experience at this stage of the knockout rounds and a one-goal aggregate lead.
While this last-16 tie could go the distance, we feel that the hosts will edge past their Spanish counterparts and win by the same scoreline as in the first leg.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Eintracht Frankfurt win with a probability of 39.4%. A win for Real Betis had a probability of 36.87% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Eintracht Frankfurt win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.53%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (6.99%) and 2-0 (5.56%). The likeliest Real Betis win was 1-2 (8.22%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.71%).
