Enlarge image
Ferran Torres scores against Eintracht
Photo: RONALD WITTEK / EPA
In the run-up, this game had already been declared the game of the century for Eintracht Frankfurt.
That may be an exaggeration, but the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Europa League turned into a football party for Eintracht in front of a full house.
Even if it was only enough for a 1:1 (0:0) against FC Barcelona.
Ansgar Knauff put the hosts ahead shortly after the break, Ferran Torres equalized midway through the second half.
Especially at the beginning of the second half Eintracht played superior.
Barcelona only showed their class after the equalizer.
With Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembélé, Barcelona coach Xavi initially put two players on the bench who were in top form recently.
Ex-Dortmunder Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, on the other hand, played from the start.
Sow with the big possibility
There was fire in the game from the start and Eintracht almost cheered after eight minutes.
Djibril Sow came freely to the ball in the center of the goal and puts it just wide of the goal.
That was also the biggest chance of the entire first half.
It was a balanced first half, Barcelona were optically superior, but had few convincing chances.
In addition, Xavi had to make an early change, as defensive veteran Piqué had sustained a muscle injury without the influence of an opponent.
Shortly before the change, there was excitement because referee Sdrjan Jovanovic had initially decided on a penalty for Eintracht after a challenge in the Catalan penalty area.
Barcelona's Sergio Busquets had played the ball, however, so the penalty was withdrawn after reviewing the video evidence.
It remained 0-0 at the break.
Lead right after the break
The second half was just three minutes young when Eintracht had reason to celebrate for the first time.
BVB loan Ansgar Knauff caught the ball perfectly from the edge of the penalty area after a corner kick and shot it into the top right goal.
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen had no chance.
The hosts tried to use the high for a quick second goal.
The strong Jesper Lindström had the 2-0 on his feet two minutes after the lead and put the ball over the goal.
Barcelona looked impressed.
Xavi reacted and brought in de Jong and Dembélé and it immediately changed the structure of the game.
Both were then also involved in the remarkable equalization of the guests in the 66th minute.
Barca played their way into the box with short passes, de Jong hung up for Ferran Torres, who converted ice cold.
And Eintracht had to accept another setback: defensive player Tuta saw the traffic light card in the 78th minute after his second foul - Frankfurt was outnumbered until the end.
Barcelona were then logically superior, but could no longer make anything countable out of it.
Aha