It is tour time again as we head for a two-match trip to Germany. First up is Frankfurt, one of Europe's main financial centres and home to Eintracht, a side hoping to break into the Bundesliga's elite this season...

The Side
Eintracht Frankfurt finished last season 10th in the 18-team Bundesliga, winning 12 of their 34 matches and finishing 24 points adrift of champions Bayern Munich, not helped by their failure to win in their final five league games of the season.

The squad consists largely of German players, though they did not have any native involvement in the World Cup this summer, their only representatives being Pirmin Schwegler (Switzerland), Theofanis Gekas (Greece) and Ricardo Clark (USA). That trio could well make their comeback against Chelsea on Sunday, three weekends before the Bundesliga commences.

Coach Michael Skibbe was assistant to Rudi Voller in the German national team between 2000 and 2004 before taking over at Bayer Leverkusen and then Galatasaray, but was sacked by both before arriving in Frankfurt last summer.

He has been a busy man over the off-season, attracting both Gekas and Turkish international Halil Altintop to the club on permanent deals, as well as the lesser known Greek Georgios Tzavallas and German youth international Sebastian Rode.

The History
The club's origins date back to 1899, and after the restructuring of Germany and its football competitions following World War II, Frankfurt were twice crowned champions in the 1950s, going on to meet Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup Final. Played at Hampden Park in Glasgow in front of 135,000, the game was won 7-3 by Real, Ferenc Puskas netting four and Alfredo Di Stefano a hat-trick.

Original members of the Bundesliga when it was formed in 1963, Die Adler have never won the competition, their highest finish being third on five occasions. They were Uefa Cup winners in 1980. Relegated in 1996 they yo-yoed between first and second tiers before re-establishing themselves in the Bundesliga in recent seasons.

Previous Meeting
Records show we have met Eintracht before just once, a 1-0 friendly defeat at the Waldstadion on August 14, 1966.

The Stadium
The Commerzbank-Arena was built for the 2006 World Cup, on the site of the former Waldstadion, a name by which it is sometimes still referred to. It hosted England's first match of that tournament against Paraguay, as well as Brazil and France's quarter-final.

It has a capacity of over 52,000 for Bundesliga matches, with 9,000 standing spaces allocated, and also incorporates a hanging screen above the playing area.

Since its redevelopment, the stadium has hosted The Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi from the music world, and the Dalai Lama and an annual congress of German Jehovah's Witnesses. It will also host Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitchscko's next bout, against Alexander Povetkin in November.

The City
Located on the banks of the River Main, Frankfurt is one of Germany's most diverse cities with a wealth of nationalities living there. It also boasts the continent's largest financial centre and Germany's most impressive skyline, with 11 officially recognised skyscrapers (London has 10).

There is plenty on offer for tourists, with over 50 museums and theatres within reach of the city centre, and getting around is easy, as you would expect in a town where transport is one of its three main industries.

The must-try delicacies in the region are its Ebbelwei (apple cider), Grune Sosse (herb sauce) and of course, Frankfurter sausages.

Sunday's game is live and exclusive on Chelsea TV, Sky channel 421.