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Five key stats from Frankfurt 1-1 Barcelona

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5 years ago

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FC Barcelona resumed their UEFA Europa League campaign with a 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt, in a first-leg quarter-final tie at the Deutsche Bank Park.

It was a slightly underwhelming result for the visitors, who were mostly outplayed in the first half and were even trailing thanks to a wondergoal from Ansgar Knauff early on after the restart.

However, an improved second-half display, coupled with some smart substitutions changed the complexion of the game, with Barça equalising in the 66th minute through Ferran Torres to snatch a crucial draw.

Nothing unusual about the first-half display

As iterated earlier, Barcelona were quite underwhelming in the first half. They were dominated for the large part, with no real control in midfield and too much-attacking pressure from the opposition on the flanks.

However, judging by the sequence of their first-half performances from the earlier rounds, it was nothing unusual.

Barcelona typically start a knockout tie slowly, as evidenced by the fact that they were drawing goalless at half-time in both their first leg ties against Napoli and Galatasaray.

600th appearance for Sergio Busquets

Last night’s game saw Sergio Busquets make his 600th start for FC Barcelona. Only two players have made more in the club’s history, in the form of Lionel Messi and the current head coach, Xavi Hernandez.

It was quite a crucial start for Busquets as well, as the veteran played a vital role in securing a draw for Barcelona. He was tailor-made for a game like this, as the Spaniard utilised his game-sense expertly to break off many potential counter-attacks for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Busquets also made a crucial challenge inside the box that would have otherwise led to a goal for Frankfurt. While the referee did initially award the penalty, it was overturned by the VAR.

Busquets is not far from another record, as he is only four games away from overtaking Andres Iniesta (674) in the list of all-time appearance makers for Barcelona.

Frenkie de Jong makes a difference

Barcelona were struggling in this game for the most part, until Xavi made the decision to bring on Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele around the hour mark.

While Dembele had a role to play in the build-up to the equaliser, it was de Jong who stole the show with a majestic shift. His ability to offer attacking support in the final third came to the fore when he linked up with Ferran to completely bamboozle the opposition defence.

Since coming on, de Jong made 13 passes in the final third, won all four of his duels and registered an assist. He also looked much more comfortable dealing with Frankfurt’s press, which was crucial in helping Barça make a late surge.

The Dutchman growing in stature

Frenkie’s improvement since the turn of the year has been well documented. And it appears the statistics now back that up as well, with the Dutchman having registered an impressive total of three assists in his last seven competitive matches.

To put things into perspective, he had only mustered four assists in just previous 47 competitive outings for Barcelona.

The improved numbers are a testement to the improvement Xavi has introduced to his game and it only bodes well, not just for the player, but for the club as well.

Another bad day at the office for Aubameyang

One of the players who was unable to make a difference against Eintracht Frankfurt was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The striker was heading into this game with a lot of optimism, due to his stellar record in Germany. Although he did try to find himself in good scoing positions, he was stopped at every turn by a certain Martin Hinteregger.

Aubameyang only mustered 34 touches last night, losing possession 17 times(!) and producing only one shot on goal, which was off target. His goalless night means the Gabonese international has now failed to score in 180 minutes for the first time since joining Barcelona in January.

While Aubameyang’s lack of productivity might not be a chronic problem, Xavi will be hoping it is not a recurring one, as we gear up for the final phase of the campaign.

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