FRANKFURT - When Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike returns to face his former club Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday, he will find a side which bears little resemblance to the one he left in July.
Last year, Frankfurt qualified for the Champions League by finishing in the Bundesliga top four for the first time in their history.
Their third-placed finish was their best result since the 1992-93 season.
However, the Eagles have lacked any sort of consistency since the start of the current campaign and boast just one win in their past five games in all competitions.
Liverpool's misfiring forward line will be licking their lips looking at Frankfurt's defence, which has conceded 18 goals in that five-game run.
While Liverpool, on a four-game losing streak, have teething problems of their own, Frankfurt have struggled after once again losing their biggest star.
Last season, Ekitike was Frankfurt's principal attacking force, particularly after the winter departure of Omar Marmoush to Manchester City.
The Frenchman scored 22 goals and laid on 12 assists in 48 games in all competitions.
But Frankfurt have made a habit of selling their biggest talents for big profits in recent years.
Ekitike became the latest starlet to leave Frankfurt in the summer, when Liverpool paid a reported 69 million 92 million for his services.
Ekitike, Marmoush, Randal Kolo Muani, Luka Jovic, Sebastian Haller and Willian Pacho have brought in a combined 418 million euros 487 million since 2020.
But while Frankfurt's scouts have shown a continued ability to unearth gems, the departure of key players always leads to a period of rebuilding.
And Frankfurt, as is often the case for a young team in such a phase, have shown strokes of brilliance and moments of pure chaos in equal measure this season.