Frankfurt sends Barcelona out of Europa League

A team that is placed 9th in the German League eliminated Barcelona from the second division of European competition. Let that sink in! The Catalan-based club was left stunned after Frankfurt defeated Barca at their own turf. The team made a very late comeback in the match but couldn’t pull a miracle like they did against Paris Saint Germain in 2017.

The fist fight between Bayern fans and Barcelona fans started on social media right after the match. The Catalan fans criticised Bavarians for losing against Villarreal just a couple of nights ago and now the Bayern fans gave them back and the fans had very little to say. They of course do have a very young squad but that cannot be an excuse anymore as the team did defeat top-notch opponents in the La Liga and that includes a 4-0 win against Real Madrid.

Barcelona was the favourites to win the Europa League and thus bowing out of the competition in the Quarterfinal stage is a matter of shame. The first leg ended 1-1 and it was expected that Barca would dominate in their backyard. However, in the second leg, Frankfurt gave them a very early blow. Eric Garcia’s silly foul inside the D-box helped Frankfurt earn a penalty and Filip Kostic gave the much needed lead at Camp Nou. Rafael Borre made it 2-0 with a fantastic strike in the 36th minute and in the second half, Kostic completed his brace and made it 3-0 for Frankfurt.

The captain of the ship Sergio Busquets pulled one back in the 91st minute and Memphis Depay scored another one in the extra-time but Barca bottled another great chance to dominate in European competitions. At a time when the club should introspect their failure, the board president is making a statement regarding a possible leak of tickets. There were 30,000 away fans last night at Camp Nou and that is something that has never happened before and that caught the attention of the club after a defeat in the hands of Frankfurt.

The president expressed his anger regarding the match but that is one statement that could have been avoided in such a time when Barcelona is at their lowest. The season will possibly end without any silverware but a defeat in the quarters of Europa is what will hurt them for a long, long time!