Koch: "We destroyed our own game in five minutes" after Frankfurt collapse

Koch felt Frankfurt had laid the foundations for a positive result with an organised and confident first-half display, only for the game to unravel almost immediately after the restart as Atalanta struck three times in rapid succession.

“Disappointed, of course,” the defender told UEFA.com. “I think the first half was good. We played good football in attack and had good control in defence. Then in the second half, we destroyed our own game within five minutes.”

Koch admitted Eintracht “went completely out of formation” during Atalanta’s decisive burst, gifting the visitors two of their goals far too cheaply.

“I think we went completely out of formation and gave two goals away too easily,” he said. “We need to learn from the second half because, like I said, in the first half we played a good game. At half-time, we had the feeling that we could get the win today, and then we come out in the second half like this.”

With Frankfurt’s Champions League campaign now under pressure, the captain stressed the importance of responding immediately.

“We need to learn from the second half,” he repeated, “and make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”