Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Barcelona: Match Review

Barcelona travelled to Germany for the first leg of the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday. Their opponents had beaten Real Betis in the previous round, and Xavi described them as a ‘tricky opposition’ in his pre-match press conference

Xavi opted to make three key changes for the game at Deutsche Bank Park. Gavi replaced Frenkie de Jong in midfield, Adama Traore took Ousmane Dembele’s spot at right-wing, and Ronald Araujo came in at right-back with Eric Garcia as the centre-back.

The first half was one of Barcelona’s worst halves under Xavi Hernandez. Despite having 63% possession, there seemed to be very little intent to play for a win from the Catalans. The Spanish side had only one shot on goal as compared to the hosts’ eight.

The Blaugranes had the first chance in the game as early as the third minute. Ferran Torres fired an accurate shot from outside the area, and the ball seemed to be rocketing into the top corner.

However, a fully extended Kevin Trapp pulled off a miraculous save to keep his side in the game.

From the sixth minute, the Germans began to create a series of chances, the first of which fell at Djibril Sow’s feet. With an open goal at his mercy, the midfielder placed his shot wide.

An unfortunate injury in the 23rd minute saw Gerard Pique substituted off for Clement Lenglet. The next 20 minutes followed the constant theme of Eintracht Frankfurt bombarding the Barcelona goal and the Catalans were pushed into a passive position.

In the 37th minute, the hosts win a penalty after Sergio Busquets seemingly took down Borre in the box. The referee immediately pointed to the spot despite loud protests from the Barcelona players.

Upon VAR review, though, it was revealed that the captain won the ball cleanly and the decision was reversed. The half ended goalless, with the home side clearly the better of the two teams.

The second half got off to a flyer for Oliver Glasner’s side as they took the lead in the 47th minute. It was a wonder goal from Ansgnar Knauff that beat ter Stegen. The German protege took a touch before executing the perfect half volley from outside the box.

At the hour mark, Xavi opted to make two changes. Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong came on for Adama Traore and Gavi. The substitutes had an instant impact and helped the team find an equaliser within two minutes.

Dembele found de Jong in the box with an incisive reverse pass to begin the move. The Dutchman performed a lovely sequence of one-twos with Ferran Torres before the Spaniard placed it perfectly past Trapp.

Frankfurt centre-back Tuta received his marching orders in the 78th minute after taking down Pedri and earning a second yellow. With the advantage of having an extra man for ten minutes, Barcelona had the chance to seal a win on the night.

Yet, Xavi’s side were happy to take the task of finding a winner to the Camp Nou. Despite dominating the possession in the final minutes, Barcelona did not create many chances to score a second goal.

The two sides will meet again next week to decide who will progress to the semifinals.

Full time: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Barcelona