Barcelona 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt: Second-half showing sees Hansi Flick’s side secure comeback victory
At the break Barcelona were down 1-o courtesy of Ansgar Knauff’s imperious opener, but then Jules Kounde struck twice within three minutes in the second period to allay fears.
Eintracht Frankfurt’s threat on the break was clear from the outset, and the visitors capitalised after 21 minutes. Nathaniel Brown surged forward from deep and slipped a pass into Knauff, who held off Alejandro Balde before finishing low past Joan Garcia. To quieten the Camp Nou.
Barcelona had earlier seen Robert Lewandowski finish cleanly only for the move to be ruled offside, and they forced Michael Zetterer into a sharp save through Gerard Martin. But the German side defended with discipline once in front and nearly stretched their lead before the interval when Knauff squared for Ellyes Skhiri, whose curling shot narrowly cleared the bar.
Flick, who had started with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha on either flank and Fermin Lopez in the middle, turned to Marcus Rashford at half-time and Barcelona looked much more threatening. Tellingly, Rashford was behind a lot of the good stuff. First he created a chance that Raphinha sent over the bar, before delivering a precise cross from the left that Kounde headed in to level the score in the 5oth minute.
Three minutes later, Frankfurt looked sick to their stomachs as it happened again. This time Lamine Yamal provided the service, hanging a ball to the far post where Kounde drifted free and nodded in his second.
Before Frankfurt’s visit Barcelona had played three games since their return to Camp Nou last month and won them all. They held on for the fourth victory.
