Ferran Torres rescued a 1-1 draw for Barcelona in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt, who finished with 10 men.
After a goalless first half at Deutsche Bank Park on Thursday, Ansgar Knauff sent the home fans into raptures with a wonderful finish from 20 yards out.
Xavi sent Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele on in response and the pair started a lovely move that ended with Torres slotting an equaliser into the bottom-left corner.
And although Tuta was shown a second yellow card with just over 10 minutes remaining, Barca were unable to complete a dramatic late turnaround to snatch the victory.
Kevin Trapp s fingertip save kept Torres at bay in the third minute and Djibril Sow failed to hit the target from a great opening at the other end.
Barca dominated possession but Trapp denied Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and they lost Gerard Pique to an apparent groin injury – Clement Lenglet replacing him in the 23rd minute.
Eintracht were awarded a penalty shortly before half-time but upon reviewing video footage, referee Srdjan Jovanovic deemed Sergio Busquets had won the ball in his challenge on Rafael Borre.
The hosts took the lead just three minutes after the restart, though, as Knauff curled a great strike into the top-right corner from the edge of the box following a corner.
What. A. Goal.
Ansgar Knauff, remember the name
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague)
Jesper Lindstrom missed a brilliant chance to double Eintracht s lead 90 seconds later and it proved costly when De Jong – who had only been on the pitch for four minutes – teed up Torres to finish off a slick move.
Tuta was shown a yellow card for a lunge on Pedri in the 78th minute but Barca were unable to make their numerical advantage count in the closing stages.
What does it mean? Eintracht still in with a shout
After overcoming Inter en route to the semi-finals in 2018-19, knocking out another of Europe s most prestigious clubs remains a distinct possibility for Eintracht this season.
Although they were unable to become the first German team other than Bayern Munich to beat Barca in a European game since Bayer Leverkusen in September 2001 – the Blaugrana are now undefeated in 22 such matches – they will still fancy their chances at Camp Nou.
Barca struggle to weather Lindstrom
He may have missed a great chance early in the second half, but Lindstrom was a real thorn in the side of Barca with his electric pace. He supplied four key passes – more than any other player on the pitch – before being replaced in the 73rd minute.
Aubameyang comes up short
He has made a strong start to life at Barca but Aubameyang was far from his best in Germany. He only had one attempt on goal across the 90 minutes and completed fewer than half of his passes.
Key Opta facts
3 Frenkie de Jong has provided 3 assists in his last seven games for , just one less than in his previous 47 games in all competitions for the Catalonian side (4). Importance.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose)
Barcelona are unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions (W10 D4), their best unbeaten run since January-May 2019 under Ernesto Valverde (GP23 – W17 D6). It is the best unbeaten run for any team in the Top 5 European leagues this season in all competitions.
Eintracht have never lost at home in a major European competition in the quarter finals or later (GP17 – W12 D5). This is the best home run without a single defeat in a major European competition.
Barcelona have progressed in three of the five knockout rounds in the UEFA Cup/Europa League when drawing the first leg away from home. They were eliminated in the last such instance by Bayern in the 1995-96 season.
At the age of 20 years and 87 days, Knauff is the second-youngest goalscorer in Eintracht’s Europa League history. Only Evan Ndicka was younger when he scored against Vitoria Guimaraes in October 2019 (20y 44d).
What s next?
Barca travel to Levante in LaLiga on Sunday before hosting the second leg next week, while Eintracht are in Bundesliga action at home to Freiburg.
