Barcelona met their Europa League end in the hands of German side Eintracht Frankfurt, as they were stunned 3-2 at home at the Nou Camp to set up a Europa League semi-final against West Ham. After the first leg had finished 1-1, the German side stormed into a 3-0 lead in the second and looked in control before two late goals for Barcelona.
Eintracht Frankfurt Knock Barcelona out of Europa League
Filip Kostic’s penalty and Rafael Borre’s superb strike were followed by another for Kostic after the break. But Barcelona skipper Sergio Busquets’ effort and Memphis Depay’s penalty set up a tense finish. Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka was also sent off for a second yellow card for what looked like a soft foul on Luuk de Jong for the spot-kick, with nine minutes added on following a VAR malfunction.
But the German team withheld the pressure from the Spanish side who is yet to lose a game this year before the encounter. Frankfurt, who sit ninth in the Bundesliga and won this competition in its previous guise in 1980, saw out a memorable victory to the delight of their almost 30,000 traveling fans.
Barcelona, on a superb run since the arrival of Xavi, did not know how to cope with the Bundesliga outfit’s clinical counter-attacks and Frankfurt could have had more. It means Frankfurt can look forward to a semi-final against David Moyes’ Hammers.
