E. LEAGUE (1/4, IDA) | EINTRACHT-BARCELONA Barça comes out alive from an outrage

Barça came out alive from an outrage in Frankfurt. The draw (1-1) that Xavi’s team drew and that leaves the tie at the mercy of what happens at the Camp Nou is an excellent result after what was seen on the pitch, where the intensity of the Germans made Barcelona relive Betzenberg’s ordeal against Kaiserslautern that Bakero saved. This time, it was Ferran who made up what pointed to disaster.

Xavi took risks in the lineup, not for the fact that Dembélé and Frenkie de Jong were rested for Adama and Gavi, but for lining up the quintet of players who arrived in the first leg threatened with cards to face a game that he himself Blaugrana coach warned in the preview that it was going to be a storm given the intensity of the Germans.

Eintracht is one of those German teams from before, one of those who in a whirlwind, carried on the wings by a crowd dedicated to the cause, try to crush the rival based on percussion.

And it was that, neither more nor less, what happened in the staging of the match, which experienced the mirage of a distant shot by Ferran Torres in the second minute of the game and that then it was torture for the Catalans, who could not match the intensity of the locals, who passed them like airplanes.

Xavi’s team had never been seen so disarmed in the dispute for the ball as in the first part of the duel against Eintracht. The luck for the barcelonistas was that the ones of Glasner were not fine in the completion. Knauff and Sow missed very clear chances and were it not for Gavi’s in extremis corrections, Eintracht would have materialized their superiority on the field with a goal.

Piqué’s injury, who had to be replaced by Lenglet after 23 minutes, made things worse. Pedri was lost in combat, Adama played on soap, Alba could not cope, Araújo was a drama with the ball and Busquets did not take control of the game. And Ter Stegen sowed panic with your indecisions. As a result of a ball that escaped him, the referee signaled a penalty for tripping Busquets, but the VAR showed that the captain got to the ball on time and avoided a goal that Barça deserved against and the Germans in favor.

That Barça reached the break with a goalless draw was a miracle, but miracles cannot be trusted forever, because even those who believe in them preach “God praying and with the mallet giving.” And on this occasion, the mallet was owned by the Germans and more specifically by Knauff, who at the exit of the first corner that Barça gave up in the second half (after two minutes) placed a shot from the front and without any opposition against which Ter Stegen could not answer.

At that moment, Eintracht had the opportunity to finish off their rival, but their aim failed again and It gave Xavi time to remodel the disaster by bringing in Dembélé and Frenkie de Jong. And it worked: six minutes later, both players teamed up with Ferran to score the tie in a pen play. The tie was worth its weight in gold, although the spirits of the Germans did not waver. But where before there was anticipation, precipitation has come, like the one suffered by Tuta, who saw the second yellow when cutting a counterattack from Pedri and left his team with 10 in the absence of a quarter of an hour. However, Barça was unable, also in superiority, to tame a game from which they could leave more than satisfied, because at times, they were very close to the KO. He was run over, but in the end, he miraculously made it out alive.