Will Palladino also ruin SGE’s Champions League debut?

When Eintracht Frankfurt recently drew 0-0 with SSC Napoli, remaining goalless and winless in their fourth consecutive international competitive match against an Italian club (one draw, three defeats), German fans were once again excluded and had to stay at home.

Security concerns are not an issue this time, however, as the SGE and Bergamo fan bases are friends with each other. Regardless of which Frankfurt vs. Atalanta Bergamo prediction turns out to be correct in the end, it is extremely unlikely that another German-Italian duel involving the Hessians will make headlines off the pitch this time.

Despite their friendship, both teams still need points – the Eagles even more urgently, as they are only in 23rd place with four out of a possible twelve points. The Nerazzurri, on the other hand, have already picked up seven points, but are in something of a crisis. After seven winless games in Serie A (five draws, two defeats), Ivan Juric had to go.

However, Raffaele Palladino’s debut on Saturday saw “La Dea” lose 3-1 in Naples. Anyone considering betting on Frankfurt against Atalanta Bergamo, predicting that the Hessians will now also spoil the Bergamaschi’s new coach’s international competitive debut, can pick up odds of 2.60 in the Bet365 app.

However, we wouldn’t rule anything out in this match, as Eintracht Frankfurt has already seen quite a few goal fests this season. Just on Saturday, there were seven goals in the Hessians’ 4-3 away win at 1. FC Köln. Toppmöller’s team’s two Champions League home games so far have seen six goals each – 5-1 against Galatasaray and 1-5 against Liverpool.

We therefore recommend betting on over 2.5 goals in this match, for which the odds for Frankfurt vs. Atalanta Bergamo are 1.57.

Frankfurt vs. Atalanta Bergamo AI prediction

AI firmly expects a high-scoring match in the Main metropolis. After all, the AI prediction for Frankfurt vs. Atalanta Bergamo is even aiming for over 3.0 goals in the Asian line, for which Bet365 is offering odds of 1.97. The probability calculated by AI beats the odds offered by betting providers and offers correspondingly high value. AI estimates the expected goals values of both clubs to be almost identical. SGE’s 1.54 is matched by 1.53 for the Lombards.

Frankfurt – Statistics & current form

In the Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt picked up eleven out of a possible 15 points following a 3-0 home defeat to Bayern and remained unbeaten in all five league games. In the Champions League, however, a downward trend was evident. A resounding 5-1 opening victory over Galatasaray was followed by two crushing 1-5 defeats against Atlético Madrid and Liverpool, before the aforementioned 0-0 draw at the foot of Vesuvius in their last group game to date.

In this match, the Eagles not only remained winless in their fourth consecutive European Cup game against Serie A representatives, but also failed to score. After three defeats in a row, they did at least pick up a point. However, this had to be considered a bit of a lucky break, as the Partenopei had 18 shots on goal – more than ever before in a Champions League home game in which they failed to score.

Frankfurt concedes too much overall

At the same time, the 0-0 draw in Campania was also the first Champions League game of the 2025/26 season involving SGE in which fewer than six goals were scored, with the Eagles managing to score and concede five goals in each of their first two home games. Accordingly, the tip that there will be another goal fest at Deutsche Bank Park when Frankfurt face Napoli is very popular.

Overall, Eintracht conceded the second-most shots on their own goal in the competition in the first four matchdays (34, only Kairat conceded more) and were particularly weak in defending transitions. On the debit side, they have conceded the most shots from quick attacks (ten) and already four goals as a result – only Union Saint-Gilloise have conceded more. Rectifying these defensive weaknesses is now the big task for SGE.

Atalanta Bergamo – Statistics & current form

Despite all the domestic problems described at the beginning, which Atalanta Bergamo is currently plagued by, things have gone quite well internationally. This also applies to their recent record against German clubs. La Dea won the last two games (3-0 against Leverkusen in the 2023/24 EL final, 2-0 against Stuttgart in the 2024/25 CL group stage). For a possible hat trick, Bet365 is now offering odds of 2.60 for Frankfurt against Atalanta Bergamo, which is risky but certainly offers value.

After all, since the start of the 2024/25 season, only Inter Milan, Arsenal, and Paris Saint-Germain have kept more clean sheets than the Nerazzurri (seven), who also failed to concede in their last two games against Slavia Prague (0-0) and Olympique Marseille (1-0). Nevertheless, Juric’s successor Raffaele Palladino conceded three goals in his debut away at SSC Napoli on Saturday (1-3). Still, the new Bergamo coach already impressed in Europe last season when he led ACF Fiorentina to the Conference League semi-finals (six wins, three draws, three defeats). Only the overall winner Chelsea scored more goals in the competition at that time.

Atalanta Bergamo with a presence in the penalty area until the final whistle

To celebrate a successful international competitive debut in the Main metropolis, Raffaele Palladino will certainly rely on the services of Gianluca Scamacca, who has scored an impressive eight goals in twelve starts. The 26-year-old also appeared in the 2023/24 Europa League final, setting up the third goal in Lookman’s hat trick.

Another advantage is the quality that comes off the bench. Lazar Samardzic has scored three times in the Champions League since the start of last season, with all three goals coming as a substitute. Two of the three substitute goals were scored this season, putting the Serbian at the top of the substitute goalscoring charts.

Frankfurt – Atalanta Bergamo Head-to-head record

Head to head: 0 – 0 – 0

There have been a few friendly matches between the two clubs, whose fan bases are linked by friendship. However, this is the first time the two teams have faced each other in an international competitive match. Consequently, there is no head-to-head data available that could influence our prediction for Frankfurt vs. Atalanta Bergamo.

Frankfurt – Atalanta Bergamo Tip

A close match is expected when two friendly teams clash for the first time in a competitive game on Wednesday evening. Nuances and form on the day will probably be decisive, although we definitely don’t expect a defensive battle, but rather an open exchange of blows. SGE desperately needs more points to stay in the top 24, and Bergamo needs to deliver results as quickly as possible after Palladino’s botched debut (1-3 in Naples) to avoid sliding even deeper into crisis.

The ingredients for another spectacle are definitely there, especially since a whopping six goals were scored in both of the Eagles’ Champions League home games at Deutsche Bank Park in the 2025/26 season. We are setting our sights much lower and recommend betting on there being at least three goals on Wednesday evening.

For the tip on over 2.5 goals, the betting odds for Frankfurt vs. Atalanta Bergamo are 1.57, which we are playing at Bet365 with five out of ten units.