Barcelona's European away match in the 2021-22 season ended in the quarter-finals of the Europa League thanks to a 3-2 defeat to Eintracht Frankurt in the second leg at Camp Nou on Thursday. Barça played poorly from start to finish and were well beaten by an excellent team from Frankfurt, and the blaugrana Xavi Hernández's best shot to a trophy in Xavi Hernández's first season went painfully.
FIRST SEMESTER
The game got off to a very bad start for Barça, when Eric García delivered a stupid penalty to drop Lindstrom inside the box after just three minutes, and Filip Kostic stepped up the spot and set Frankfurt ahead.
The German team got off to a dream start and proved almost impossible to take down, with a well-organized defense and great pressing. Barça showed good intensity and movement in attack but never offered a real threat and the visitors remained comfortable in their form.
And to make matters worse, Rafael Borré scored an absolute scream with a 30-yard rocket in the top corner, and Frankfurt doubled their lead 10 minutes before half-time. That goal stunned Barça, who looked desperate and without ideas at halftime.
With 45 minutes left of the European season, Barça needed a miracle in the second half, while Frankfurt were very close to the biggest win in club history.
SECOND HALF
The second half was a disaster: Barça continued to show no threats with the ball and were even more open in defense, and Frankfurt struck the coup de grace: Kostic received the ball inside the area and scored his trademark with a powerful low shot with his left foot over the goal and into the bottom corner, and Eintracht had a three-goal lead to seal the deal.
The last 30 minutes have been centered on Barça showing struggle and dignity, and have certainly tried to go ahead and look for a goal or two. They got one thanks to a Sergio Busquets tap-in, but the captain was offside and the goal was canceled by the VAR to add insult to injury. However, Busquets did not contradict himself and scored a beauty from outside the box to make the score less bad. There was still time for a second when Memphis Depay scored a penalty in the 11th minute of added time, but that was the last kick of the game.
The final whistle concluded Barça's European adventure this season, and now it is the eight games remaining in La Liga to secure a place in the Champions League next season. That was still the main objective of this season, but tonight it is taking away Barça’s best chance to win a title. And Pedri is injured. A night to really forget.
