Eintracht Frankfurt and Barcelona will battle for a place in the semi-finals of the Europa League over two legs, with the first one coming in Germany on Thursday night with kickoff at 22:00.
Eintracht Frankfurt have no doubt punched above their weight in Europe this season with the side making out of the group stage on top of Group D with 12 points from six matches, three above the second-placed Olympiacos. They proceeded to win 3-2 on aggregate against Real Betis in the last 16, with Oliver Glasner’s side winning 2-1 in Spain in the first leg and holding the Spaniards to a 1-1 draw in Germany in the second leg.
However, Frankfurt have struggled in the Bundesliga as they currently sit ninth on 39 points from 28 matches, six points behind Freiburg who occupy the Europa League spot. They are coming off a 0-0 draw against Greuther Furth, which marked their second consecutive goalless draw in Bundesliga and they fourth draw across all competitions.
A win on Thursday will be a massive confidence booster as they near the end of the season. However, they face an inform Barcelona side, who have not lost in their last 13 matches across all competitions and are coming off a four-match winning streak. They raced to a rampant 4-0 victory over Real Madrid before the international break and recorded a 1-0 win against Sevilla last Sunday, displacing Sevilla from the second place in the process.
The Catalans stunned Napoli 5-3 on aggregate to make to the last-16 of the competition, where they saw off Galatasaray in a 2-1 on aggregate to set up a meeting against Frankfurt in this round. They will be looking to go through to the end in the competition and should be quite confident heading into the clash.
Frankfurt vs Barcelona head to head
This will be the first meeting between the two and we expect an entertaining encounter. Take a look at their previous results:
Home
- Frankfurt 0-0 Greuther Furth
- Frankfurt 1-1 Nuremberg
- Leipzig 0-0 Frankfurt
- Frankfurt 1-1 Real Betis
- Frankfurt 2-1 Bochum
Away
- Barcelona 1-0 Sevilla
- Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona
- Galatasaray 1-2 Barcelona
- Barcelona 4-0 Osasuna
- Barcelona 0-0 Galatasaray
Frankfurt team news
Martin Hinteregger is back from a domestic suspension, while both Ramaj and da Costa miss out with injuries.
Barcelona team news
Barcelona will be without Sergino Dest, Ansu Fati, Roberto and Samuel Umtiti due to injuries.
Prediction and odds
- Barcelona win
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
