Barcelona’s European campaign has gone from bad to worse in its first season post Lionel Messi.
First the Spanish powerhouse was eliminated from the lucrative Champions League, and now it has been knocked out of the second-tier Europa League by Eintracht Frankfurt.
The German team stunned Barcelona 3-2 at the Camp Nou to advance to the semifinals on a 4-3 aggregate score, Associated Press reported.
Barcelona was the title favorite, looking to win the one trophy not in its collection. It was playing for the first time in the Europa League and had never won its predecessor, the UEFA Cup, reaching the semifinals on four occasions but not getting to a final. Frankfurt won the UEFA Cup in 1980.
Frankfurt will next face West Ham after the Premier League club advanced to a European competition semifinals for first time since 1976 by eliminating Lyon 4-1 on aggregate, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier, Christopher Nkunku scored twice to help Leipzig reach its first semifinals in a European competition with a 2-0 victory at Atalanta.
Kemar Roofe scored in extra time for Rangers to prevail 3-1 over nine-man Braga for a 3-2 aggregate victory to face Leipzig next.
Leicester became the first team to advance to the semifinals of the inaugural Europa Conference League after coming from a goal down to beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the Netherlands.
The Premier League team will next play Roma. With José Mourinho in charge, Roma is one of the favorites to win UEFA’s new third-tier competition. The Italian club got its revenge with a 4-0 victory over Norway’s Bodø/Glimt to make the semifinals 5-2 on aggregate, Associated Press reported.
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