A goal by Ferrán Torres saved a draw for Barcelona against Eintracht Frankfurt who had gone ahead with a great goal from Ansgar Knauff and who in the first half had had the Catalan team on the ropes at the height of intensity and physical display.
If the first half went to Eintracht, the final minutes went to Barcelona who, however, could not take advantage of their numerical superiority after Eintracht was left with ten due to Tuta’s expulsion.
Barcelona had more of the ball, but neither control nor arrival, and Eintracht launched quick attacks after each ball recovery, putting Marc André Ter Stegen’s goal in danger.
In minute 5 came the first clear arrival of Eintracht, with a shot by Ansgard Knauff to Kamaa’s center from the left that was blocked for a corner.
In the 6th Sow he had a chance for Eintracht by coming to the shot in excellent position on a counterattack that began with a Barcelona turnover in midfield.
In the 10th minute, Gavi had to deflect to a corner before a good cross from Filip Kostic from the left. Barcelona only came back in minute 17, in a fortuitous play that began with a poor clearance by Martin Hinteregger that hit Ferrán Torres and the ball fell at the feet of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang who finished off against the outside net.
However, Eintracht continued to be more dangerous and dictating the match at times going to the limit of the regulations.
In minute 28, in another counterattack, Sergio Busquets saved against Rafael Borré in the small area. The central referee, Serbian Srdjan Jovanovic, initially awarded a penalty, but it was corrected after reviewing the VAR images that showed that Busquets had touched the ball first.
The statistics sheet at the end of the first half gave two pieces of information that said a lot about how the game had developed: Barcelona had 64 percent possession of the ball, but had only shot twice towards the goal against eight of the Eintracht.
Already in the second half, in the 48th minute, Eintracht went ahead with a shot to the top corner from outside the area by Ansgar Knauf, taking advantage of a rebound after a corner. Shortly after, Eintracht had the opportunity for the second at the feet of Lindström.
The tone of the game continued to be that of the first half. Eintracht, after the advantage, fell back a bit but the counterattacks were still dangerous.
In many divided balls, Barcelona began to be the team that arrived a moment earlier and Eintracht closed the spaces less.
In minute 79, Eintracht was left with ten men due to the expulsion of Tuta, who saw his second yellow card for a foul against Pedri.
From then on, everything seemed to work for Barcelona, who monopolized the ball and combined close to the area, although they continued to have problems generating clear arrivals.
In the end, Eintracht listened gratefully to the final whistle, although the missed chances in the first half surely left a bittersweet taste.
Barcelona, for its part, despite the problems it went through, had more to come and is now in a position to resolve the tie at the Camp Nou.
