Europa League: Barcelona held by Frankfurt, 10-man West Ham draw with Lyon

By: APFrankfurt | April 8, 2022 10:32:55 am

Barcelona failed to win an away match in the Europa League for the first time after it was held 1-1 by 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of the quarterfinals.

Ferran Torres salvaged the draw in the second-tier European competition with an equaliser following a series of fluent passes around the box in the 66th minute on Thursday.

Barcelona was knocked out of the lucrative Champions League in the team’s first post-Lionel Messi season. It is playing for the first time in the Europa League and never won its precursor, the UEFA Cup, reaching the semifinals on four occasions but not getting to a final.

Frankfurt won the UEFA Cup in 1980.

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Rebuilding under recently hired coach Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona has relied on big away performances to get to the last eight, beating Napoli (4-2) and Galatasaray (2-1) on the road after first-leg home draws.

In other games, 10-man West Ham also drew 1-1 with Lyon. The Hammers reached the quarterfinals of a European competition for the first time since 1981 after eliminating six-time champion Sevilla.

Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso saved a penalty and a follow-up attempt but he couldn’t keep out an own-goal by Davide Zappacosta from the resulting corner as Leipzig salvaged a 1-1 draw.

Also, Braga beat Rangers 1-0.

In the Europa Conference League, Roma, one of the favorites to win UEFA’s new third-tier competition, failed to get its revenge at Bodø/Glimt and lost 2-1. The Norwegian club routed Roma 6-1 in the group stage for Jose Mourinho’s biggest loss as a coach. Bodø/Glimt also earned a draw in the return match in Italy, and has eliminated Celtic and AZ Alkmaar in the knockout stage.

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Also, Leicester was held 0-0 at home by PSV Eindhoven, Marseille beat PAOK Thessaloniki 2-1 and Slavia Prague earned a 3-3 draw at Feyenoord.

In Frankfurt, Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué had to be substituted in the 23rd minute due to an injury after he slipped and could not continue.

In the first half, Barcelona didn’t look like the in-form team that has moved to second place in the Spanish league.

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Ansgar Knauff put the hosts ahead three minutes into the second half with a dipping shot after Barcelona failed to clear a corner. Brazilian defender Tuta received his second yellow in the 78th minute and was ejected.

West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell downed Lyon forward Moussa Dembélé, who was running on goal outside the area, and received a straight red in first-half injury time.

Despite that setback, West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen delighted the packed London Stadium by giving the hosts the lead on a counterattack early in the second half.

Tanguy Ndombélé, who is on loan at Lyon from Tottenham, canceled out that lead to give the visitors a decent result ahead of the second leg.

Atalanta’s Musso denied André Silva from the spot in the 58th minute, and also denied Willi Orban from the rebound in Leipzig.

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Moments later, Zappacosta was under pressure from a corner and sent the ball into his own net.

Luis Muriel’s first-half goal gave Atalanta the lead after he cut into the box from the left to beat Leipzig goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi with an angled shot into the roof of the net.

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Both sides hit the woodwork twice. Atalanta is bidding to become the first Italian club to win the competition since Parma won its precursor, the UEFA Cup, in 1999.

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Abel Ruiz netted the sole goal five minutes before halftime for Braga against Rangers. In another chance, Ricardo Horta hit the post.

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Hugo Vetlesen scored the winning goal for Bodø/Glimt in the 89th minute after teammate Ulrik Saltnes had equalized around 10 minutes into the second half.

Roma’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan chipped the ball over the defense for Lorenzo Pellegrini to fire home two minutes before the interval.

Gerson volleyed in the opening goal for Marseille. Dimitri Payet, who set up that first goal, doubled the advantage at the end of the first half with a perfect drive off Cengiz Ünder’s corner.

Leicester’s Harvey Barnes hit the bar and Kelechi Iheanacho chipped wide in the first half against PSV.

Ibrahim Traoré scored with a backheel shot in the dying seconds of injury time for Slavia Prague to earn a draw. It was the third encounter between the Dutch and Czech clubs this season.

Orkun Kökçü scored with a low free kick four minutes before the end to put Feyenoord 3-2 up in an entertaining game in Rotterdam.

First published on: 08-04-2022 at 10:32:55 am Next Story

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