MATCH SUMMARY
Barcelona had a tough start to the game, struggling to compete against Eintracht's physicality or contain them at counterattacks. The Bundesliga side actually looked better in the first 45 minutes, creating more scoring chances and looking more active on the ball.
Eintracht scored their well-deserved opener shortly after the break through Knauff who left Ter Stegen no chance with his long-range effort.
Barca only improved after Xavi made his first two subs of the night, putting Frenkie and Dembele on the pitch. The two players contributed to Blaugrana's gorgeous equaliser in the 66th minute.
Eintracht were down to 10 men shortly after that as Barca finally started to look comfortable on the opposition half. However, this didn't result in their match-winning goal as the tie will be decided next Thursday.
That's it! The first quarterfinal leg finishes in a 1-1 draw.
3 minutes of stoppage time.
🛑 78' Great news as we're now playing against 10 men! Tuta is shown a second yellow, he is sent off.
⚽️ 66' GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!! WHAT A BRILLIANT TIKI-TAKA GOAL FROM FERRAN!
The goal is inspired by Xavi's great subs!
"Frenkie and Dembele! Instant impact!"
"That might be the best goal we have scored this year. No joke."
🚨 63' Ferran! Shoots the ball wide from tight angle, picking the ball in the box.
"Ferran does everything right except for the last decision. Such a good player, will eventually get it right though."
🔄 61' Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele enter the pitch replacing Gavi and Adama Traore.
🚨 59' Gavi in the centre of action again! His header is saved by Trapp.
📝 58' Barca dictating the tempo now, trying to speed things up a bit. Still some creativity to be found upfront.
⚽️ 48' Eintracht make it 1-0. Knauff with an unreal banger from outside the box.
Honestly, we've got no one to blame here. This is simply some perfect execution from the German winger. Garcia cleared the ball after a corner but the young forward did something truly special.
"How do these teams turn up with these great goals against us? It's mind-numbingly funny at this point."
"All things considered that was the opposite of the goal I imagined we would concede tonight."
🔥 SECOND HALF!
📊 3 best and 3 worst Barca players v Eintracht so far
Best
Gavi: helped the team twice in defence which was really crucial. Active at winning duels.
Busquets: very important in defence (got 4 tackles already!), got a key pass too.
Adama: expectedly superb at winning ground duels, looks really threatening on the right side.
Worst
Alba: poor in defence, sloppy on the ball.
Pedri: struggling to make an impact, made just 16 touches so far.
Aubameyang: doesn't look dangerous upfront tonight, should've done better when he had a shot opportunity.
⏱ Finally! Half time. Eintracht 0-0 Barcelona.
🧐 45' Such a weird refereeing tonight! Seems like the ref needs a break too.
"This ref is atrocious, Gavi gets kicked multiple times and hes like, no foul."
"Feels like Gavi fu**ed someone closer to ref."
📝 44' Eintracht still looking really dangerous in front of goal – a half-time break is badly needed!
🚨 38' PENALTY for Eintracht. VAR should definitely interfere here as Busquets touched the ball first.
YES! No penalty which is a fair decision here.
"Barca unsettled by the physicality of the Germans... and the permissiveness of this ref."
🧐 33' Gavi fouled while on a promising run – no yellow for some reason.
"Not sure how that wasn’t a booking. A clear counter stopped."
"Ref has absolutely no handle on this game. Setting a bad tone letting these fouls go."
💭 27' "We need more control in the midfield, urgently."
🤔 25' There also good news about Pique's early sub. He hasn't picked up a yellow card, so if he is fit for the second leg, he will play it.
🤕 23' Oh no! Pique is asking for a sub. Seems like he has picked up an injury. Clement Lenget is replacing him.
"You could tell that something was up with Pique. It's a shame to have to make that early sub."
"Awful start to the game and we have to lose Pique for injury too.. not looking good for Barca tonight."
🚨 17' Aubameyang takes a shot from a tight corner! Could've done better as his effort is parried by Trapp. For some reason, referees whistle an offside call here.
"That's a fu**ing corner, how can we still not use VAR for this stuff in 2022."
📝 17' Barca controlling the game tempo now, letting the opposition do little in attack. This is what we needed.
😱 10' GAVI with a crucial clearance! No Barca defender in the box where THREE Eintracht players were ready to find the net.
"I know jet lag is something, they played a few days ago but why is everyone looking so sloppy. Even Pique and Busquets can't place their passes correctly."
🚨 7' Barca caught out on the counter and Djibril Sow almost makes it 1-0, picking the ball in front of goal! Quite a worrying start for the Catalans so far.
"Frankfurt with incredible pace in the counter attacks."
🚨 5' Eintracht with a really dangerous attack as Barca seem a bit shaky at the back.
📝 4' "Luis Enrique deploys Pedri as the left central midfielder and Gavi as the right central midfielder, but Xavi does the opposite. Interesting."
🚨 3' Ferran's stunning long-range effort parried by Kevin Trapp! What a save this.
🔥 1' KICK OFF!
⚡️ Electric atmosphere here at Eintracht's home stadion tonight.
🤔 Men to watch for Eintracht? Definitely Filip Kostic, their greatest playmaker. Daichi Kamada could also be really dangerous behind the striker.
Eintracht Frankfurt XI: Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, Ndicka; Knauff, Sow, Jakic, Kostic; Lindstrom, Kamada; Borre.
👉 Slight rotation from Xavi tonight: Gavi takes Frenkie de Jong's place in the midfield, Adama Traore is a starter ahead of Ousmane Dembele.
Ter Stegen; Araujo, Pique, Garcia, Alba; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Adama, Aubameyang, Ferran.
🔵🔴 Hello Cules and welcome to the live blog covering the Europa League quarterfinal between Eintracht Frankfurt and Barcelona! The first leg is played in Germany, the second takes place at Camp Nou next Thursday. Here we go!
Latest news
