Barcelona boss Xavi says Eintracht Frankfurt fully deserved their stunning 3-2 victory in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie at Camp Nou on Thursday.
Filip Kostic scored two goals, the first from the penalty spot, and Rafael Borre scored as the Bundesliga side beat the Catalan bulls 4-3, scoring two goals for Sergio Busquets’ fine strike and a Memphis Depay penalty.
The result ended Barca’s 15-match unbeaten streak, the longest in Europe’s top five leagues, and for the second time in Europe’s last seven games to avoid relegation in the first leg. .
Xavi did not complain about the result and admitted that his team was doing well at the pace he had set for months.
“We scored two goals but we could not attack in a better way,” he told a news conference.
“We did not play as well as the other games and they came out very well in the counter-attack.
“We have had the power to control but we have not produced enough to hurt them, and they have done it with a little [of the game].
“It is a mistake we have paid for what is happening in Europe and we are going to be disappointed.
“It is not a failure. We have tried. It is disappointing because we had high hopes and we put everything on the field, finally Frankfurt won. Competition and if there is any failure we will learn.
“We can congratulate them just because they deserved it.”
A large number of Frankfurt supporters roared in their side, with far more than their share of the 5,000 in attendance.
Xavi says that has had an impact on his side and he confirmed that the club is looking at why the team’s fans are so numerous.
“The atmosphere did not help,” he added. “We were expecting about 70,000 or 80,000 people from Catalonia and that hasn’t happened yet. It looks like a final game with separate support. I think the club is watching what happened.”
Barca will be in a row on Monday when they host Cadiz in LaLiga.
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