Eintracht Frankfurt, current 9th in the Bundesliga, created a sensation on Wednesday by defeating FC Barcelona 3-2 after the first leg draw (1-1) to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they will face West Ham, Lyon scorer (1-1, 3-0).
The Catalans gave in immediately on a penalty conceded in the 4th minute after a collision between Éric Garcia and Jesper Lindstrom and converted by Filip Kostic, then a second time at half an hour of play on a sublime long shot signed Rafael Santos Borré (36th), before seeing their last hopes fly away on a cross shot from Kostic, for the double (67th).
The fine goal of Blaugrana captain Sergio Busquets, at the very end of the match (90th + 1) and the penalty converted by Memphis Depay after additional time (90th + 10), will have given only a vain and brief hope to the Catalans .
Driven by 25,000 supporters who invaded Barcelona and the Camp Nou (a third of the 79,469 spectators present), appropriating the Blaugrana enclosure as rarely seen before, the German players achieved a real feat, those who had no not won a single match for a month.
For his big return to Camp Nou five years after the famous comeback suffered by Paris Saint-Germain against Barça in the knockout stages of the Champions League on March 8, 2017 (6-1), Kevin Trapp did not have much -thing to do to defend his cage on Wednesday night.
“I don’t have the words to say what I feel, what we feel as a team. We implemented our plan to perfection. We felt like in Frankfurt, it was incredible, it was extraordinary to feel that. That’s why we stayed after the match, to spend time with the fans, who made an effort to be with us. A great pride, a lot of joy. Their support was incredible, we saw nothing but white everywhere. It was very moving. I’ve been playing for years, and I’ve rarely experienced this. What I had experienced here in 2017 is well forgotten now”.