A victorious Barça seeks to consummate its ‘déjà vu’ in Europe
The azulgranas will have to repeat the script of the previous qualifiers to certify the pass to the semifinals
BARCELONA, 13 Apr. (SportsFinding) –
FC Barcelona faces this Thursday (9:00 p.m.) the return leg of the Europa League quarterfinals against the German Eintracht at the Camp Nou, in an outcome with no margin of error for Xavi Hernández’s men, after the ‘zero match'( 1-1) of the first leg in Frankfurt that leaves the tie open for both teams.
The culé team arrives at the match immersed in a ‘déjà vu’ since their arrival in the Europa League. Chaos reigns in the first leg and lucidity appears in the second leg, as happened against Naples and Galatasaray. For this reason, the azulgranas hope to repeat the script and get through to the semifinals in front of their fans at the Camp Nou.
Between the atmosphere, the flares, and a highly motivated Eintracht in their fort, Barça did not understand that it was time to be aggressive, so they were punished for the verticality of the Germans in the first leg. Despite this, the Catalan team found life in a spark between Ferran Torres and Frenkie de Jong, which served to neutralize a gray night.
After surviving the first game, FC Barcelona recovered the winning mentality against Levante last Sunday, winning in extremis with a blow from the recovered Luuk De Jong, Xavi’s silent hero, who continues to justify his presence based on vital goals. Thus, the culé team internalized the lesson learned in Frankfurt with a change of attitude.
This time, the azulgrana team will be backed by their fans in the most important duel of the season, unlike in previous qualifiers, where the locals were barely able to enjoy Xavi’s team in the first leg of the round of 32 and eighth.
However, this Thursday’s game will be an early final for the culé team, so the club asked members to give up their seats if they could not attend to turn the Camp Nou into a feast with full stands.
The team enjoys an award-winning regularity in domestic competition, displaying a unique unbeaten record with the best current streak in Europe without losing in the league, with 15 games. In this way, they hope to continue with the same dynamic in the continental competition, where they remain undefeated in the ‘Europa League’.
For this return duel, Xavi now has a choice in attack, having recovered Memphis due to injury and having a Luuk de Jong, who has not lost his scoring instinct after overcoming COVID-19. Even so, the young Ansu Fati, also recovered, continues without a specific date of return.
In defense, the American winger Sergiño Dest has entered the squad list, which also includes Gerard Piqué, despite not having a medical discharge, while Sergi Roberto and Umtiti will not be available due to injury, and Dani Alves will not be available. be registered in the competition.
THE EINTRACHT DREAMS OF REACHING THE SEMIFINALS FOR THE SECOND TIME
For its part, Eintracht arrives in Barcelona with the dream of being able to play in the Europa League semifinals again, as happened in 2019 after beating Benfica in the quarterfinals. And to achieve this, the fans once again showed their overwhelming support for the players by requesting 35,000 tickets for the historic duel, despite the fact that the Germans have only received around 5,000.
Oliver Glasner’s men know the difficulty of the challenge, although they cling to their great memory of this edition by living a magical night against Real Betis in the round of 16, getting through the round with a goal in extra time.
The Germans, who arrive after losing (1-2) to Freiburg in the Bundesliga and leaving behind a streak of six unbeaten official matches, are aware that Barça will risk much more in the second leg in front of their fans.
However, the ‘eagles’ will lose Brazilian central defender Tuta through suspension and German Christopher Lenz through injury, while Swiss midfielder Djibril Sow has entered the squad after suffering a knee strain last Sunday in the Bundesliga.
DATASHEET.
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Dest; Araújo; Eric Garcia; Jordi Alba; F. De Jong; Busquets: Pedri; Ferran Torres; Dembélé and Aubameyang.
UNISON: Trapp; N’Dicka; Hinteregger; hasebe; Jakic; Rode; knob; Kostic; Lindstrom; Kamada y Borre.
–ARBITOR: Artur Dias (POR).
–STADIO: Camp Nou.
–TIME: 21.00/Movistar Champions League.