Eintracht Frankfurt hosts Catalan giants Barcelona in the first leg of a Europa League quarter-final on Thursday evening.
Frankfurt got the better of La Liga side Real Betis in the competition’s round of 16 last month, prolonging their European excursions as the bright glimmer in a largely underwhelming debut campaign for coach Oliver Glasner.
Barcelona have navigated their way past two-legged ties against Napoli and Galatasaray already after exiting the Champions League group stage. The Catalan giants claimed a 2-1 aggregate win over Galatasaray in the last-16, while their hosts just about got over the line against Real Betis over two legs.
Barcelona have thrived under Xavi so far and holds the upper hand going into this game.
Preview: Barcelona
While the international break threatened to disrupt Barcelona’s momentum after hitting Real Madrid for four without reply, Pedri’s 72nd-minute winner sunk Sevilla at Camp Nou as Xavi’s side continue to stake their claim as the best of the rest.
Usurping Real Madrid at the summit is surely a bridge too far for the Catalans, but the progress they have demonstrated under the tutelage of their former midfield maestro is remarkable, and it is now 13 games unbeaten for Barcelona in all tournaments, with eight of their last nine ending in victory.
Barcelona has experienced a stunning resurgence this year and is in second place at the La Liga table. The Catalans edged Sevilla to a crucial 1-0 victory in their previous game and will look to achieve another victory this week.
Preview: Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt are in ninth place in the Bundesliga standings and have been plagued by inconsistency this season. The German outfit were held to a 0-0 stalemate over the weekend and will need to take it up a notch in this fixture.
Frankfurt will at least bring a six-game unbeaten run in all competitions into Thursday’s first leg, although their last three have all ended with the spoils shared, and only one of their last seven home matches in all competitions has ended in victory.
On a more positive note, the German outfit are yet to suffer a single defeat in this season’s Europa League as they endeavor to replicate or better their semi-final appearance in the 2018-19 edition, but a rather formidable Catalonian force is standing in their way.
How the match could go
Real Madrid, who won their previous game, will hope for a similar result following the 0-3 La Liga victory versus Mallorca. Madrid haven’t lost in the league to Barcelona in their last 5 matches. They are unbeaten in their previous 24 league matches at home. What a fortress they have created.
Barcelona will go into this encounter following on from a 1-2 Europa League win versus Galatasaray in their most recent game. Barcelona have not beaten Real Madrid in games played away from home for the previous two matches in the league. Barcelona are undefeated in their last 10 league matches away from home. A tight contest is what we foresee here with us not seeing a clear winner.
Betting Predictions
Barcelona to win
Barcelona’s revitalization under club icon Xavi continued at a pace at the weekend when they won for the fourth game on the spin, this time at Sevilla’s expense. Barca have now won eight of their last nine matches in all competitions and in Pedri and Gavi, they have two of the most exciting young midfielders in world football.
Xavi’s young team will relish the chance to perform on the continental stage on Thursday, so back the La Liga giants to get the better of Eintracht in Frankfurt. Bet9ja have 1.68, 1xbet have 1.72 and Paripesa have 1.72 odds.
Over 2.5 Goals
Goal-hungry Barcelona has been playing with plenty of attacking thrust in recent weeks and they have rattled the net an impressive 25 times in their last nine matches alone. Barca notched at least twice in seven of those games and they have enough firepower in their ranks to do more damage against Frankfurt. With that in mind, we are assured of a large number of goals to come from this game despite Frankfurt being lackluster when on the offensive. Bet9ja have 1.62 odds, Paripesa have 1.70, and 1xbet have 1.70 odds.
Anytime Goalscorer (Barcelona)
Ferran Torres
Ferran Torres has scored three goals in Barça’s four games, for Barcelona just before the international break. He wasn’t on the scoresheet for Sevilla but it won’t be a bother for him as he has had a great streak in front of goal. He has become a clutch player for Barcelona and vital to Xavi’s plans of dominating top-level football in the coming years. He was on the scoresheet as he scored a brace against Osasuna at home. Bet9ja have 3.00 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 2.25.
Aubameyang
Former Arsenal star Aubameyang has rediscovered his oomph since swapping London for Barcelona in January and the Gabonese attacker has notched nine times in his last nine appearances for Los Cules. The 32-year-old found the net in each of Barca’s last two Europa League away tests against Napoli and Galatasaray respectively and Aubameyang is among the prime candidates to register anytime again against Frankfurt. Bet9ja have 2.70 odds and Paripesa have 1.91 odds for him to score.
Anytime Goalscorer (Frankfurt)
Daichi Kamada
Frankfurt’s Daichi Kamada has scored four UEL goals this campaign with each match witnessing goals at both ends before half-time. He could make a difference for his side if they really want to get something out of this game. He was also on the score sheet in the previous proving his fans right. Bet9ja have 7.50 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 6.00.
Football Lover. All-round junkie of the beautiful game. Could be found watching football most of the time. If not he’s writing about them or making some punditry you don’t agree with. A certain bias for Arsenal and Santos FC.
