Barça banish ghosts of Frankfurt to take big step towards Champions League knockout phase

Tuesday was a day for banishing ghosts at the Camp Nou.

FC Barcelona were left traumatized the last time they played Eintracht Frankfurt, when in April 2022, some 30,000 away fans took over the Camp Nou and eliminated the Catalans from the Europa League. Ever since then, this fixture has become a grudge match, and ‘Frankfurt’ a triggering keyword for many within Barcelona. 

Back then, Barcelona fans chose to enjoy the first big Easter weekend after the loosening of many Covid restrictions in their droves, and sold their Camp Nou tickets to Germans also excited for the same reason, but moving in the opposite direction. The result was a bizarre game that felt like FC Barcelona were playing as an away team in the Camp Nou – and against a team in white, to top it all off. 

Club president Joan Laporta admitted the night left him feeling “embarrassed and ashamed,” and it led to an overhaul in the ticketing system, a revamp which would be given a big test this week.

With thousands of fans travelling from Germany, many without tickets, Tuesday night proved a crucial test for how the club has dealt with old embarrassments. Barça needed to save face and avoid a repeat of 2022’s scenes. Making the evening even more tense was the fact that this was the first Champions League night in the new Camp Nou stadium. 

Only club members would be able to buy tickets, yet in the days building up to the game, many were available on secondary market websites, while the Barça offices were overflowing with Germans seeking to become members on the day of the game. 

Eintracht Frankfurt scoring first revealed the extent of the 2025 invasion in the Camp Nou, as many ecstatic Germans could no longer withhold their discretion in the home end, causing hundreds of culers in surrounding seats to call stewards and demand their expulsion from the stadium.

There were numerous pockets of away fans in the home end escorted out of the stadium, but in overall terms, this was far from the 2022 takeover. 

On the pitch, the game was decided by an unlikely hero, right-back Jules Koundé. The first ten minutes of the second half defined the game. The French defender gifted Frankfurt a couple of gilt-edge opportunities, and could have easily been hooked for his lackadaisical start to the second half, but Frankfurt couldn’t take advantage. Moments later, he had headed in two crosses to completely turn the result around for Barcelona.

The hostility in the stands turned up a notch after the goals. First, when Frankfurt had taken the lead, a rain of bottles and drinks hailed on their heads from the away section. Later, after Barça took the lead, there was a moment of controversy as a flare lit in the Barça end was thrown into the away section, only to be returned to Barça fans almost immediately. Tensions heightened further as most of the stadium only saw the return throw and expressed their disgust at the visitors’ behaviour. 

Upon the final whistle, more than a handful of Barça supporters turned to offer explicit gestures towards the away fans, leaving no doubt that this particular continental rivalry is embittering considerably.

The win is vitally important for the Catalan side’s chances of progressing from the group stage of the Champions League, as defeat would have left them just a point above the qualification cutoff. 

What will be worrying for Hansi Flick’s side is the slow starts. Barça have conceded the first goal in each of their last five games now, even if in all but one, the Chelsea loss, they were able to turn the result around and win.