Visiting head coach Francesco Farioli surprisingly made 10 changes to his starting XI from the first leg, but their opponents quickly assumed control of the contest and took the lead inside seven minutes.
Lucas Rosa’s poor touch was seized on by Nathaniel Brown, with the ball moved on to Hugo Larsson and then Jean-Matteo Bahoya.
Bahoya didn’t look to be in a position to make things happen, but after a couple of incisive one-twos, some intelligent movement and some inattentive defending, the 19-year-old found himself through on goal, finishing with aplomb past Braga loanee Matheus.
After taking the lead, Frankfurt looked in the mood to put the tie to bed in the first half – while also ending a first run of successive home defeats since November 2023.
And after striker Hugo Ekitike failed to hit the target with a presentable opportunity, they doubled their advantage on the night.
There was some fortune to it from the hosts’ perspective, as Ajax were momentarily down to 10 men after Daniele Rugani was accidentally caught by team-mate Ahmetcan Kaplan, consequently needing treatment for a head wound.
And in his absence, Robin Koch’s long ball forward found Mario Gotze, who had drifted beyond the backline before skilfully guiding his effort home.
Dino Toppmoller’s men may have gone in at half-time feeling that they should have been even further in front, and Ajax certainly started the second half better than they did the first, albeit without testing Kaua Santos in the Frankfurt goal.
At the other end, Ekitike forced a good save from Matheus, with Farioli only turning to his bench just after the hour mark in pursuit of an unlikely comeback.
That didn’t materialise though, as Ekitike made sure of the victory in style, with Bahoya’s precise pass finding his fellow Frenchman, who nutmegged Kaplan and curled home superbly.
Although Ajax substitutes Mika Godts and Kenneth Taylor combined effectively to reduce the deficit, a horrible piece of goalkeeping Matheus out of his area allowed Gotze to lob the Brazilian from range for his second of the evening.
Frankfurt ultimately eased through, having scored for a 23rd successive home game to devastating effect.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jean-Matteo Bahoya (Eintracht Frankfurt)
