Eintracht Frankfurt takes FC Barcelona by surprise and is in the semi-finals of the Europa League. While Barça’s fans flee from frustration, the Hessians already have their next goal in mind.
Oliver Glasner would have never thought that he would one day slide across the pitch lying on his stomach at the Camp Nou. On April 14, 2022, the Eintracht coach from Frankfurt actually found himself face first on the green about 30 minutes after the final whistle of his team’s second leg against FC Barcelona.
Cheered on by tens of thousands of fans and his players, the Austrian glided across the field on which history was made that day. Because Eintracht Frankfurt had actually become FC Barcelona from the Europa League.
Never before has Oliver Glasner enjoyed being on the ground so much. (Source: Jan Huebner/imago images)
Yes, it is true.
What sounded like the dream of the previous night for the Hessians who traveled with them is reality. The big FC Barcelona is not one of the top four teams in the Europa League, it is Eintracht from Frankfurt.
“It was perfect the way it was”
The Adlerträger had taken the Catalans by surprise with intensity, passion and a tactically great team performance. From the start, the guests pressed on the gas, fought for every ball and played forward dynamically and purposefully. It was only in added time in the second half that Barça became really dangerous and scored twice.
But the goals were no longer enough – and in the end they didn’t matter to the winners. “It was perfect the way it was,” said goalkeeper Kevin Trapp on RTL. The goalkeeper had injured his hand in the penalty kick to make it 2:3, which is why it was heavily bandaged. “Today that’s not a problem,” he says with a smile on his face.
The face of Xavi Hernandez wrote a different story. The Barcelona manager was keen to crown himself with a title in his first season. The “Blaugrana” had already been eliminated from the national cup competitions. In the championship, Barça is far behind leaders Real Madrid due to the poor start to the season under predecessor Ronald Koeman. The last hope was the Europa League. And now it’s gone too.
“It’s a huge disappointment,” Xavi commented on the end. “Eintracht Frankfurt were better, especially in the first half. We tried in the second half, but we weren’t good enough.” He also elicited praise for the visiting fans, although he was visibly upset that so many had found their way into the stadium. His own fans had been even more angry about it before. The Barça ultras stopped supporting at the beginning of the second half and some even left the stadium. Xavi justified the presence of around 30,000 Frankfurters with a “planning error”.
Xavi Hernandez’ gaze could hardly be emptier. (Source: Eibner/imago images)
This frustration sweetens Eintracht’s triumph even more. And none of the Hessians will think about rest that night. At least President Peter Fischer won’t do it: “Today all of Barcelona is in Frankfurt’s hands. Today we’re having the biggest party this city has ever seen.”
A well-known travel destination
The journey in the next round goes to a place that the people of Frankfurt know very well: London. In 2019 we went to the English capital – also in the semi-finals. The opponent at that time was Chelsea FC. Now it’s West Ham United. The “Hammers” prevailed against Olympique Lyon and have to prepare themselves for the home game on April 28th. get ready for tens of thousands of Frankfurters who want to make the London Stadium look like the Camp Nou.
And the Eintracht players will also travel to East London with confidence: “We showed today that we don’t have to hide from anyone. Of course we want to go to the final,” explained Kevin Trapp. That would be in Seville, Spain, by the way. A country that the Frankfurt fans would like to visit after this Thursday at the latest.