As a substitute, Frenkie de Jong makes the difference in a very difficult EL duel


Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 10:57 PM• Mart van Mourik

Eintracht Frankfurt and Barcelona balanced each other on Thursday evening. The quarter-final match in the Europa League was played in Frankfurt and ended in 1-1. Frenkie de Jong started on the bench but makes the difference as a substitute by providing an assist to Ferran Torres. Ansgar Knauff’s opening goal on behalf of Eintracht was also of great beauty. The return will take place next Thursday at the Camp Nou.

Xavi decided not to let any Dutchman start. For example, Frenkie de Jong was replaced in midfield by Gavi and Luuk de Jong was not in the selection due to a positive corona test. Memphis Depay was sidelined with a hamstring injury, as was Sergiño Dest. In the front, the Catalan coach surprised somewhat with his choice for Adama Traoré instead of Ousmane Dembélé. At Eintracht, Sam Lammers has to settle for a place on the bench.

The meeting in Frankfurt was already inflamed in the third minute of play, when Ferran Torres fired a shot from outside the box towards the left corner. Goalkeeper Kevin Trap stretched and worked the fine effort into a corner stop with his fingertips. A few minutes later, Eintracht also fired the first serious warning shot. Jesper Lindström placed the ball at the penalty spot for Djibril Sow, who had the choice of the corner but got the ball completely wrong: wide. In the 23rd minute, Barcelona received a big blow. Gerard Piqué dropped out injured and had to be replaced by Clément Lenglet.

The Catalan defense was clearly weakened with the substitution, but they held out until the halftime signal. Eintracht did appear to receive a penalty from referee Srdjan Jovanovic, who thought that Sergio Busquet’s attacker had floored Rafael Borré in the box. After viewing the video footage, the referee rectified his decision, as the midfielder played the ball first. Two minutes after the restart, goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen capitulated. Knauff tried his luck with a shot from the second line and found the crossing brilliantly with the outside right: 1-0. Ten minutes later, De Jong came in.

Xavi’s decision to bring the Dutchman within the lines paid off immediately, because De Jong was at the basis of the equalizer four minutes after his substitute. After a double, nice combination with Ferran in the penalty area, the latter scored convincingly: 1-1. In the 78th minute, Eintracht cut his fingers. In midfield, Tuta, who already had a yellow card in his pocket, was much too late with a tackle on Pedri, after which Jovanovic decided to give the defender his second yellow print. The home team thus had to continue with ten men. Although Barcelona became dangerous several times, the score on the scoreboard did not change.