Barcelona held by Frankfurt in Europa last eight

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

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.

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

Frankfurt won the UEFA Cup in 1980.

Rebuilding under recently hired coach Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona have 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.

In the Europa Conference League, Roma, one of the favourites 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 have eliminated Celtic and AZ Alkmaar in the knockout stage.

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.

EUROPA LEAGUE

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.

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 counter-attack early in the second half.

Tanguy Ndombélé, who is on loan at Lyon from Tottenham, cancelled 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.

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

AP