Barca fight back to earn draw in Frankfurt

Quarter-final 1st leg

Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie with Eintracht Frankfurt this evening.

The hosts ended the game with 10 men after Tuta’s sending off as the match ticked towards the final 10 minutes, but the Catalans had already come from a goal behind when Ferran Torres cancelled out Ansgar Knauff’s opener.

Barcelona had to overcome a first-half scare when Eintracht were awarded a penalty as Sergio Busquets was adjudged to have fouled, but VAR intervened and referee Srdjan Jovanovic overturned his own decision after consulting his pitchside monitor, seeing that the Catalan had won the ball.

But the hosts had their lead just three minutes after the break through an excellent strike. A corner was headed away but only as far as Knauff, who was waiting outside the area. He set himself up with a touch before firing the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen into the top corner.

Barcelona levelled midway through the half through Ferran, but Xavi Hernandez would have been pleased with the manner in which it came. Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele both linked well with one another and the former Manchester City forward, before the ball made its way to Torres to finish.

Xavi’s side were the better of the two from there, and their chances were boosted with Tuta was given a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Pedri.

But Barcelona couldn’t find another way through, and were left to settle for a 1-1 draw in Germany. They’ll host Eintracht at the Camp Nou next Thursday where the winner will progress to the semi-finals.