Tensions are running high as Eintracht Frankfurt prepare to host Nuremberg on Thursday in the first of a two-legged, winner-takes-all Bundesliga relegation/promotion play-off.

In Germany, the team which finishes third from bottom in the Bundesliga faces the club which comes third in the second division in an end of season play-off.

"It's effectively two finals, like you'd get in a European Cup," said Frankfurt coach Niko Kovac ahead of the first leg at Eintracht's Commerzbank Arena.

"Except we can't put everything into this first game, because there's a second leg just four days later."

The return leg will be at Nuremberg's Grundig Stadion next Monday with the hosts bidding to return to the Bundesliga after two seasons in the second tier.

This a clash of two sleeping German giants.

Eintracht were last German champions back in 1959 while Nuremberg won the last of their nine league titles in the 1967/68 season, but were German Cup winners in 2007.

Frankfurt found themselves in the play-off after finishing 16th in the table following their dramatic 1-0 defeat at Werder Bremen last Saturday, when the winning goal was scored two minutes from time.

Now they face 180 nerve-wracking minutes to avoid the drop after spending the last four seasons in the Bundesliga.

They can take solace in the fact that a side from the Bundesliga has beaten their play-off opponents from the second tier in each of the last three seasons.

"It is the losing team which has more to fear. We are positive, we must be stronger at home," said Frankfurt goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.

His opposite number, Nuremberg keeper Raphael Schaefer, is an expert in battling relegation, having been on the winning side in four relegation play-off matches in 2009 and 2010 without conceding a goal.

"I'll try and take the pressure off the younger players," said Schaefer.

The mind games have already started.

"We aren't the favourites, but we have courage, confidence and we're really looking forward to it," said Nuremberg's coach Rene Weiler.

There is tension between the sets of fans, who have a history of bad blood, and 500 police will be on duty around the Frankfurt stadium.

"We are aware of the explosive nature of the game," Frankfurt police spokeswoman Virginie Wegner told German daily Bild.