As United prepare to face Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt in the opening game of the pre-season tour, Andrew Dalton looks back at our encounters with German sides over the years...

Somewhat surprisingly, United have only faced German opposition on seven occasions competitively since their formation in 1919.

SC Leipzig – 1965/66
First up was SC Leipzig in the second round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup during the 1965/66 season. Leeds won the first leg 2-1 in the Bruno Plache Stadion thanks to goals from Peter Lorimer and Billy Bremner. They completed the job with a goalless draw at Elland Road a week later.

Hannover 96 – 1968/69
Next up for the Whites were Hannover 96 in the third round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup during 1968/69. With the first leg at Elland Road, Leeds all but sealed their progression to the last eight of the competition thanks to a 5-1 win, with goals coming from Mike O’Grady, Norman Hunter, Jack Charlton and a brace from Peter Lorimer. The job was completed in the AWD Stadion with 2-1 win, with goals coming from Rod Belfitt and Mick Jones.

Dynamo Dresden - 1969/70
Dynamo Dresden were next up for Leeds, this time in the second round of the European Cup in 1969/70. Leeds took a slender 1-0 lead to the second leg thanks to a Peter Lorimer penalty. Leeds then sneaked through the third round of the competition on away goals thanks to Mick Jones’ effort with the tie having finished 2-2 on aggregate.

Carl Zeiss Jenna – 1972/73
It was a different competition, this time the European Cup Winners Cup, in 1972/73 but German opposition were again on the menu in the shape of Carl Zeiss Jenna in the second round. Having the seen the first leg finish 0-0 in the Ernst Abbe Sportfield stadium, Leeds booked their place in the third round with a 2-0 second-leg victory, with Trevor Cherry and Mick Jones scoring the vital goals.

Bayern Munich – 1974/75
Fast forward two years and Leeds had made it to the European Cup final against Bayern Munich. What appeared to be a blatant penalty was waved away in the first half as Allan Clarke was felled in the area, and Peter Lorimer bewilderingly had his strike ruled out on a night that would be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Goals from Franz Roth and Gerd Mulller won the trophy for the Germans.

Stuttgart – 1992/93
Following a gap of 13 seasons, Leeds were back in Europe and back in the European Cup in 1992/93 following their title success the previous season. They would face Stuttgart - a team they had met in the Makita Tournament just six weeks earlier. The first leg saw the German side take a 3-0 lead into the second meeting, but what they didn’t expect was to see the English champions stage such a fightback in the second game.

Leeds won the second leg 4-1 thanks to goals from Gary Speed, Gary McAllister, Eric Cantona and a Lee Chapman header. Leeds thought they were knocked out on away goals, but when it transpired the Germans had gone over their quota of overseas players. UEFA awarded the second leg as 3-0 win to Leeds and a third game would be played in Barcelona on October 9 1992. Leeds eventually won 2-1 thanks to goals from Gordon Strachan and from birthday boy Carl Shutt to set up a mouth-watering tie with Scottish champions Glasgow Rangers.

1860 Munich – 2000/01
Our most recent encounter with German opposition came in the third qualifying round of the Champions League back in 2000. Leeds came into the game with a host of injuries and would go on to lose Eirik Bakke and debutant Olivier Dacourt to suspension. As for the game itself, Leeds took a slender 2-1 lead into the second leg thanks to goals from Alan Smith and an Ian Harte penalty. Paul Agostino’s late, late goal for the visitors kept the tie in the balance. Leeds then defied all the odds to qualify for the lucrative group stages with a backs-to-the wall performance in the second leg. Nigel Martyn was superb in goal and Smith was on hand again to fire the Whites into games against AC Milan, Barcelona and Besiktas. Leeds had finally arrived at Europe’s top table!

Recent pre-season friendlies with German opposition:
1992/93: Leeds United 2-1 VfB Stuttgart, Makita Trophy semi-final – Goals: Rod Wallace, Rocastle
1995/96: Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Leeds United, pre-season friendly – Goals: Couzens, McAllister
1996/97: FC Pforzheim 0-1 Leeds United, pre-season friendly – Goal: Rush
1996/97: Freiburger FC 2-4 Leeds United, Bahlinghen Tournament semi-final – Goals: Deane (2), Rush (2)
1996/97: SC Freiburg 2-1 Leeds United, Bahlinghen Tournament Final – Goal: Rush
1998/99: VfL Wolfsburg 2-0 Leeds United, pre-season friendly
2007/08: Union Berlin 2-0 Leeds United, pre-season tour of Germany
2007/08: Energie Cottbus 2-1 Leeds United, pre-season tour of Germany*
2013/14: Leeds United 0-2 FC Nurnberg, pre-season friendly

* Leeds had been due to play Dynamo Dresden but the game was called off amid fears of crowd trouble and faced Czech Republic side Slovan Liberec.

Finally, which player links Leeds United and Eintracht Frankfurt? One Anthony Yeboah!

The Ghanaian arrived at Elland Road in 1995 following a five-year spell with the German outfit which saw him hit 68 goals from 123 appearances.

All stats are provided courtesy of Andrew Dalton, you can give Andrew a follow on Twitter at @lufcstats