Filip Kostic score two goals for Eintracht Frankfurt as they fend off an angry ending to defeat Barcelona 3-2 in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night.
The result saw the Bundesliga side advance to the semi-finals thanks to a 4-3 aggregate win in both legs, while Barca’s European championship hopes in 2021-22 were over.
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The guests, buzzed by the overwhelming support at the Camp Nou, got off to a dream start when Barca Eric Garcia Pull down Jesper Lindstrom in the area and Kostic calmly defeated Marc-Andre ter Stegen from position to give Frankfurt the lead in three minutes.
Xavi Hernandez’s side settled quickly after conceding a goal and began to force the issue, with Ousmane Dembele Installing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a header over the bar and Ronald Araujo volley straight at the Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp in the following minutes.
Despite the pressure of the host, Frankfurt again scored to double the lead, this time thanks to the Rafael BorreAn absolute lightning strike from a long distance blinded Ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal.
“I was speechless,” Trapp said after the game. “Nobody expected this, to be honest. Everyone expected us to suffer here.
“We needed to take our chances and today we’ve been very productive. We’re in last place and we want to go as far as possible. We’ve shown that we don’t need to. have to hide from anyone, but without a doubt, now we want to do the final.”
With Barcelona leading 2-0, the game was open from the beginning of the second half. Aubameyang was forced to save a point from Trapp in the 48th minute and Ter Stegen did well to save a powerful Lindstrom shot from the other end shortly after.
Xavi brought back Adama Traore for Aubameyang just passed the mark and was replaced Sergino Dest Come on in for Oscar Mingueza hoping to start the attack, but Kostic scored the second of the night with a header that knocked Ter Stegen out in the 67th minute to seal the win for Frankfurt.
Sergio Busquets scored for Barca as second-half stoppage time started and Memphis Depay scored one more goal just before the final whistle blew, but fell too short to overcome as Frankfurt saw a famous result.
“What we did today was not enough despite the heroic efforts in the end,” Xavi said. “It’s disappointing. We didn’t play well. We had possession and possession, but couldn’t find any space to hurt them.”
Frankfurt will receive West Ham Unitedwho beat? Lyon in their quarter-final, with the first leg taking place on April 28 and the decisive second on May 5.
