Five Keys For FC Barcelona To Beat Eintracht Frankfurt In The Europa League

FC Barcelona take on Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-final second leg on Thursday evening in what is their biggest match of the season.

Here are five keys for them to win the fixture currently tied 1-1 on aggregate.

Keep hold of the ball and press from the outset

In his prematch press conference on Wednesday, Xavi demanded that Barca play “neater” and minimize counterattacks from their rival which hurt them so much last week.

Xavi has also ordered his charges to defend better with the ball to avoid Frankfurt’s transitions, not lose it so cheaply, play with more intensity by pressing better and know when to attack the spaces left by their Bundesliga foes.

Score the first goal and take the pressure off

Barca went a goal behind to Napoli at home, and then to Galatasaray in Istanbul before Pedri equalized.

They followed a similar trend last week in Frankfurt and then a few days later at Levante in La Liga.

In short, the Catalans need to stop giving themselves an uphill battle by netting first and dictating the match.

Attack the right flank

As was seen for Sunday’s leveler against Levante, Barca’s biggest threat comes down the wing of Ousmane Dembele who has tied Karim Benzema and Lionel Messi for the most assists in La Liga and in Europe in 2022 respectively.

The Catalan press see Martin Hinteregger as smart but slow, and recommend that Barca try and draw the Austria international out of position.

Make use of the Camp Nou turf

Xavi and his men complained about the quality of the grass at the Deutsche Bank Park and claimed that things will be different in Catalonia.

Now they have no excuses, and can use their home lawn to get their slick passing game up and running.

Make history and achieve Xavi’s first win at home in Europe

In order to advance to the semi-finals, Xavi will have to make personal history and do something he has never done before in his near-five month reign since taking over from Ronald Koeman in November: win at home in Europe.

On his watch thus far, the club legend has overseen three 0-0, 1-1 and 0-0 draws against Benfica, Napoli and Galatasaray.

The first of those stalemates contributed to Barca being knocked out of the Champions League, and Xavi won’t want to be eliminated on the continent twice in front of home fans in a matter of months.