Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Barcelona summary: score, goals, highlights, Europa League quarterfinal first leg
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Barcelona
Despite having the majority of the possession all the way through the match, Barcelona struggled to make their time on the ball count and were constantly exposed by Frankfurt's lightning transitions, whether they were down the flanks or through the middle. More than once Jordi Alba was left lamenting his teammates' inability to track back or cover as the home side burst forward.
But Frankfurt's goal when it came was from an individual moment of pure skill, rather than fast teamwork. A corner broke to Knauff outside the box; the 20-year old winger trapped it and then smashed the bouncing ball past Ter Stegen into the top corner. A true peach of a strike.
With Barcelona reeling from the shock, the home side nearly went two up, but Lindstrom just put a sharp effort over the bar.
Barcelona did settle, but needed Xavi to pull the strings with a double substitution to get back into the match. De Jong, on for Gavi, set up Ferran Torres who slotted home neatly in the box.
Frankfurt still looked dangerous after the Barcelona equaliser, but their offensive threat was neutered when Brazilian defender Tuta picked up his second yellow, for a foul on Pedri. Barcelona turned the screw ever more in terms of possession, but never looked convincingly like they would turn that into an advantage on the scoreboard.
All to play for next Thursday at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.
Here's Alfredo Relaño's take on the game - Barcelona came away with something, though they were off the pace.
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Here's more from Xavi's post-match comments.
Knauff goal
He really, really got a hold of this one. Worth hunting down.
Xavi's flat pitch obsession
Barcelona coach Xavi says they're going home fairly content after a tough game against a difficult rival. He also, being Xavi, doesn't miss the opportunity to point out the pitch wasn't in "perfect conditions". Who would have guessed...
Peep peep! Full time! Stunning goal from Knauff for Frankfurt early in the second half was cancelled out by Ferran Torres' neat finish. Frankfurt lost Tuta to a silly second yellow and finished the game on the back foot.
Ball falls kindly to Jordi Alba in the Frankfurt box... but he manages to fall over as he moves back to collect it and the moment is gone.
Three minutes of time added on. Barcelona keen to make their man-advantage count, but they're not going crazy. Kitchen sink definitely not being thrown at this juncture.
Double substitution for Frankfurt!
Jakic off and Rode in.
Borre off and Ache in.
Barcelona using their extra man to dominate, even more, possession. Better be careful though, as Frankfurt are still looking to hit them on the break, albeit with only a lone man up there.
Aubameyang! Fine chance as Alba puts it along the deck in the box, but the striker can't get a boot on it.
After only one card in the first half the ref's book is filling up now. Jakic booked for a foul on De Jong.
Toure comes on for Kamada for the home side in the wake of that sending off.
Goodness. Somewhat out of the blue. Tuta gets himself sent off for a second yellow, standing on Pedri's ankle. He'll miss the match at the Camp Nou.
Neither of those were particularly brutal fouls, but both similar and both deserving of a yellow card.
A bit of the pace has gone out of the game at the moment. Sides settling for a draw?
Substitution for the home side. Lindstrom comes off and he's replaced by Jens Hauge.
De Jong in the thick of the action again, he's made a difference since he came on. A neat ball through forces a foul in a fairly dangerous position some 30 yards out. Barça try to play it cute, sending it out wide, but the best laid schemes often go wrong, as this one does as Torres is closed down quickly and can't get the ball into the box.
Shots on target
Eintracht Frankfurt 5
Barcelona 4
Barcelona! Ferran slots home from amid a ruck of players. Well taken goal and it's level in Frankfurt.
Careful now. A fair few outlets are describing Knauff's goal as a half-volley. It wasn't. A half-volley is when you hit a ball that's been in the air at the precise moment it hits the ground. If you hit the ball in the air after it bounced it's just striking a bouncing ball.
Gavi tumbling to the deck after Tuta's foul will be the Barça man's last participation in the game. He's off fro De Jong.
Traore is also subbed off, for Dembélé.
Tuta with a lazy foul to stop Gavi on the run. The Barcelona player goes flying, Tuta goes into the book.
Dembélé warming up! Xavi has decided to shake things up.
Dortmund producing a number of dangerous attacks here and Barcelona are struggling to do anything when they move forward, running out of ideas or angles as they approach the home side's box.
Ansgar Knauff
Left winger Ansgar Knauff, the scorer of that fine, fine goal, is only 20 years old and is on an 18-month loan at Frankfurt from Borussia Dortmund. He's also played for the Germany U19, U20 and U21 sides.
When he went on loan, Dortmund's head of talent, Sebestian Kehl said: "Ansgar is a talent from our own youth academy who already brings a lot to the table. He approached us to state his wish to get more playing time on loan. We would like to offer him this chance to continue his development at a high level."
Scoring like that against Barça is not a bad one to put on your development chart.
Frankfurt came very, very close to making it two just after the goal, when Lindstrom flashed a sharp pass from Kostic over the bar with Barça at sixes and sevens and Ter Stegen out of position.
WHAT. A. PING! Knauff traps a bouncing ball outside the box and slams it past Ter Stegen.
The goal came from a Frankfurt corner that was only cleared as far as Knauff who had to control the ball awkwardly, which he did, before spinning and absolutely hammering the ball into the top corner, always curving away from Ter Stegen's despairing mitt.
Off we go. Frankfurt start with the ball, and they decided to enjoy some possession. They gently noodle their way down into the left hand corner and then lose the ball. Araujo hoofs it clear.
Teams coming out. No changes to the teams. Second half coming up. Can Frankfurt make their pace count?
Fans in fine fettle
Over 45,000 fans in the Waldstadion, currently known as the Deutsche Bank Stadium.
Scores on the doors, Europa League
Halftime scores from around Europe
RB Leipzig 1-1 Atalanta (FT)
Braga 1-0 Rangers
West Ham 0-0 Lyon
Half-time!
No goals at half-time. Frankfurt with the better of the chances. They were gutted to have a penalty overturned when the ref had a peek at the monitor, but it was the right call. Xavi has some thinking to do as he hands out the oranges in the Barcelona dressing room.
Kostic yellow card. He knocks Araujo over and then petulantly prods the ball at the man on the ground. Barely knocked the ball onto the Barcelona player, but the ref is happy to go to his pocket. First yellow of the match and a daft one.
As expected Frankfurt have moved the ball about well in this first half, their transitions from defence to attack are marvellously quick, and that's hurt Barça on a number of occasions, particularly with the changes in their backline and some players not dropping back fast enough.
Penalty review. Ref trotting over to the monitor and he spots that Busquets got there first and got the ball. NO PENALTY.
Frankfurt players act like they are angry, but in their heart of hearts they know that's the right call.
POSSIBLE PENALTY FOR FRANKFURT. It'll go to VAR, but that's a fine, rapid move down the left, ball across where Ter Stegen knock it out and then Busquets gets a foot to the ball and knocks over a Frankfurt player as he does so. Ref has no doubt, but VAR will probably overturn it.
Barcelona have had a nice 69% of the possession, but they've not done very much with it.
Araujo obstructs Kostic whp played the ball neatly round him. Lovely feet. Dangerous ball from out on the left, which comes all the way back to Lindstrom some 25 yards out and he gets overexcited and lashes a wild one that Ter Stegen watches peacefully.
Marseille are beating PAOK 1-0 by the way. While there are no other goals round the European stadiums, apart from the two finished games, Leipzig 1-1 Atalanta (Europa League) and Feyenoord 3-3 Slavia Prague in the Europa Conference League
Half an hour gone and no goals. Fairly even, Barcelona definitely raising their game in the past 10 minutes after Frankfurt had the better of the early exchanges.
Alba to Gavi on the inside left channel after some lovely ball control from Pedri, but the ball is just a smidgen overhit and it slides over the byeline. Frankfurt boff up the other end and force a fine save from Ter Stegen, diving to his left to deny Jakic.
Piqué looking rather despondent on the Barça bench after coming off. He trundled off under his own steam, but is clearly struggling.
Piqué has only lasted 23 minutes. Lenglet comes on for him. The Barcelona legend signalled to Xavi that he couldn't go on.
Tantrum alert. Frankfurt's number 13, Hinteregger, nicks the ball and then gets angry when it's given as a foul.
Neat ball through from Ferran Torres to Aubameyang, but he slams his chance into the side netting. Good cover from Trapp left him no gap to look for, so he went for power and the targeting went to pot, as it can do.
The pace has finally dropped, like two heavyweights catching breath after throwing a first round of humungous haymakers. None of the punches landed, but several came fairly close.
Traore! What a great run down the right... he whips the ball in and Aubameyang is very, very close to getting on the end of it. Good defending though just denies him. Traore again looking lively.
It's been a rather frenetic start. Both sides have already had chances, though Frankfurt's have been better and Sow really should have scored. Both defensive lines are struggling to avoid leaving holes and if things don't tighten up expect to see at least a goal by half-time.
Frankfurt get in down the left, leaving Alba raging at several players who had failed to track back.
To keep everyone on their toes, Barcelona head down the other end and win a corner. But after being sent back and then into the box it falls to nobody and Trapp breathes easy again.
Frankfurt in down the right! And Sow just has to stoke that home, but make's a pig's ear of it and slides it wide. Let off for Barcelona!
Oh Lindstrom! Fresh airs a fine chance right in front of Ter Stegen. That's a shocker. The ball then fell out right to Knauff, who failed to do anything useful with it. End to end stuff so far, and the fans are lapping it up.
Trapp! Tips over Ferran's effort! That was picture perfect football. Fine save from the Frankfurt keeper, and the ball goes for a corner, which comes to nothing.
It's loud out there! Barcelona start by knocking it around a bit at the back, before Traore gets released down the right. He's challenged and ends up on the deck, but he looks eager.
Kick-off! WIth the air thick with smoke from the flares we're underway in Germany. Barcelona with the ball!.
Teams coming out, flares at one end of the ground, cracking atmosphere and it's time for the Europa League anthem.
Banner!
There's a huge banner at one end of the ground, but the fans under the start of it are too keen to see what's going on and have lifted it up so we can't see what it says. Update as soon as we can see it.
Frankfurt v Barcelona XIs
There's your starting line-ups. Under 10 minutes to go now at Deutsche Bank Park, where there's a huge amount of interest in this game, and both coaches have deposited a significant sum of hard work in their preparations. And that's probably enough bank puns for one night.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Barcelona live!
Hello and welcome to our coverage of Eintracht Frankfurt against Barcelona in the Europa League, the second-tier European club competition, behind the Champions League. Kick-off is at 3pm ET.
Barça ended up in the tournament after failing to get into the knock-out rounds of the elite tournament, finishing third in their group behind Bayern Munich and Benfica. They beat Napoli in the play-off round (1-1 in Barcelona and a thumping 2-4 win in Naples) before overcoming Galatasaray in the Round of 16 (0-0 in Catalonia and 1-2 in Istanbul).
So on the basis of their last two ties, Barcelona will be hoping to do the damage away in Frankfurt this evening.
The German club meanwhile won their group unbeaten (Group D, if you're into that sort of info), finishing ahead of Olympiacos, Fenerbahçe and Antwerp, winning three and drawing three, and then beat Spanish opposition in the shape of Real Betis in the Round of 16 (1-2 in Seville and 1-1 after extra-time in Frankfurt).
The second leg will be at the Camp Nou next week, on 14 April.
Xavi rings the changes
Adama Traoré and Gavi are Xavi's changes for the starting XI. Taoré has been on the bench for three games, but comes in for Dembélé, who has been on fine form, while Gavi is in for the injured De Jong, who had played almost the entire season.
In defence, Eric Garcia, as expected is in, while Ronald Araújo is in charge of the right flank, as in the Clásico (0-4 for Barcelona) given the absences of Sergiño Dest (injured) and Dani Alves (not registered to play in the tournament.)
Aubameyang warming up
The striker has been on fine form for Barcelona this year, and starts up front for Xavi's side.
Frankfurt fans
250,000 fans requested tickets for tonight's Europa League match, but only 48,500 were lucky enough to get one. Expect a stunning atmosphere from Frankfurt's lively fans tonight...
Barcelona are in the Europa League having failed to reach the knock-out stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2000/01, meaning they have never played in this tournament since it was rebranded in 2009 - it used to be known as the UEFA Cup.
In this article, Paul Reidy, as well as answering the question: 'Have Barcelona ever played in and won the Europa League', takes a look at Barcelona's record in the UEFA Cup, which is not as good as you might expect, and contains a fascinating fact about Scotland's Dundee United
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Barcelona line-ups
Frankfurt XI: Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, Ndicka; Knauff, Jakic, Sow, Kostic; Lindstrom, Kamada and Borré.
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen; Araujo, Piqué, Eric García, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Gavi, Pedri; Adama, Ferran and Aubameyang
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Barcelona: Prediction
The bookies have Barcelona at -140 favorites for the 90 minutes, with Frankfurt at +375, and the draw is coming in at +300.
Barcelona do have a significant injury list which we reckon makes them somewhat less of a favourite, with Ansu Fati still out, along with Luuk de Jong, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti, and Sergio Dest who is out with a hamstring issue. Memphis Depay is also missing.
Our prediction: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Barcelona.
Barcelona favourites
Barcelona were in all sorts of bother earlier on this year, but the steady hand of Xavi has settled the Camp Nou ship and they come into the game tonight on a the back of a four-game winning streak, including a four-nil thrashing of eternal rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabéu and that handy 1-2 win away to Galatasary to put them into this Europa League quarterfinal. In fact, apart the draw against the Turkish side five games ago, Barcelona have won eight of their last nine games and haven't been beaten since falling to Athletic Club in extra-time in the Copa del Rey back on the 20th of January.
All that means Barcelona are widely considered to be one of the favourites for the Europa League trophy, not just to beat Eintracht Frankfurt, but the Germans will be pointing pointedly at their six-game unbeaten run in all competitions coming into tonight's tie, though maybe slyly covering up the stats section that shows the last three games were draws, they've only managed to win once at home in their last seven games and the fact they are sitting in ninth in the Bundesliga.
How to watch Eintracht Frankfurt vs Barcelona
The game gets underway at Deutsche Bank Park at 3pm ET / 12 noon PT, which is 9pm local time (CEST). We'd love to have you with us here for the duration of the game, but if you fancy flicking your eyes up occasionally to the action on the TV, here's our How to Watch the Game article, by Kieran Quaile.