FC Barcelona, favorite for the title in the Europa League, was eliminated by surprise this Thursday in the quarterfinals by losing 3 to 2 at home against Eintracht Frankfurtqualified for the semi-finals along with RB Leipzig and West Ham.
Before 30,000 compatriots who gave an unusual image at the Camp Nou, Eintracht, who had drawn 1-1 a week ago in Germany, left Barça very injured in the first half thanks to the claws of the Serbian Filip Kostic (minute 4 of penalty) and the Colombian Rafael Santos Borré (36).
In the second half, Kostic (67) extended his team’s tally and in added time Sergio Busquets (90+1) and the Dutchman Memphis Depay (90+11 penalty) cut short, unable to complete the comeback.
The team from the German financial capital will face West Ham for a place in the final in Seville on May 18, who thrashed 3-0 on their visit to Lyon.
no spanish
After the eliminations in previous rounds of Seville, Betis and Real Sociedad, the Europa League this year is left without clubs from Spain, the country that has managed to make one of its representatives champion in eight of the previous twelve editions of this tournament.
Therefore, there will be no Spanish team in the final on May 18, which will be played at the Sánchez Pizjuán stadium in Seville. With this goodbye, Barça now only has the Spanish LaLiga as an option to save the season.
He is second in that championship, but has leader Real Madrid far behind, 12 points away, so he seems more focused on securing a place in the ‘Top 4’ and qualifying for the next Champions League. Barça’s European path this season has been marked by disappointment. He started in the Champions League and did not get his place in the round of 16, falling behind Bayern Munich and Benfica.
He then went on to play the Europa League as a consolation, where he eliminated Napoli and Galatasaray, before this tie against Eintracht. In six home games this season in European competitions, Barcelona barely won one (Dinamo kyiv 1-0, in the Champions League), which ended up being fatal.
The disappointment has been enormous for a Barça that seemed to be in a great moment, with a streak of fifteen games in a row without losing and seven consecutive wins. Now the euphoria stops short.
AFP
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