Eintracht Frankfurt striker Jonathan Burkardt spoke on the mixed feelings associated with his long-awaited Bundesliga comeback on Saturday afternoon. If – under newly installed head coach Albert Riera – Eintracht wish to make a run for the European places in the table, they will need Burkardt to be at the top of his game. In his first minutes on the pitch since late November, Burkardt both was and wasn’t. 

Despite the fact that he’s missed 12 rounds of Bundesliga football, the five-times-capped German international still leads the squad in Bundesliga goals scored. Even prior to converting a penalty in this weekend’s loss to Bayern Munich, Burkardt’s eight league goals served as the top tally in the SGE ranks. Second-placed Can Uzun (currently injured again) scored five his six league goals during the first five matchdays of the season. 

In something of an encouraging sign for Eintracht, both Burkhardt and Kalimuendo were able to come off the bench to score goals. Burkardt secured his ninth Bundesliga goal of the 2025/26 campaign via a converted penalty in the 77th minute. There was nevertheless a bad miss before that, however. Burkardt had a chance to score seconds after being introduced at the hour mark. The 25-year-old regrettably struck the post in the 62nd-minute. 

“Yes, that hurts,” Burkardt told Sky Germany when reflecting on the miss in his post-match interview. “It was still fun to be back on the pitch and I’m very happy that we’re through with it [that important step]. I think we did really well in the second half, even if we probably deserved to lose. We were still close and could have nicked a draw.

“I think we’ve seen that our game works well against any opponent when we stick to it,” Burkardt added when asked about the new coaching regime. “That was an important realization today. We got into the game too late, but there are a lot of positives to take away. I think we can already see progress in the first few weeks.”