The Eintracht Frankfurt footballers lost in the Champions League to top favorites FC Barcelona and thus missed their last small chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
Despite a courageous performance, coach Niko Arnautis’ team lost 0-2 (0-1) on the penultimate matchday to the defending champions, who had already qualified for the round of the last eight.
FC Rosengard from Sweden and Benfica Lisbon had previously drawn 2-2 (1-0) on Thursday; if the Portuguese had won, Frankfurt would no longer have been able to reach the quarter-finals. After the Eintracht defeat, Benfica (8 points) has secured its quarter-final ticket ahead of the last matchday behind Barcelona (15). Frankfurt (4), which lost 3-1 in the first leg against Barca, and Rosengard (1) will only play for third place next Wednesday.
Patricia Guijarro (19th), substitute captain for the injured star player Alexia Putellas, and Caroline Graham Hansen (73rd) scored for Barca at the Estadi Johan Cruyff. Frankfurt held on with a lot of effort in their first competitive game of the year. Laura Freigang (57th) had the best chances with a beautiful right-footed shot and Lara Prasnikar (68th) with a volley. The lackluster Barca players lacked consistency on offense for a long time.
Bitter for Eintracht: three players were replaced injured. The Swiss national player Geraldine Reuteler (31st) had to go down in the first half, goalkeeper Stina Johannes was over at the break, and finally captain Tanja Pawollek (62nd) was also eliminated.