Barca red-faced in Europa League exit

BARCELONA • Barcelona were embarrassed on the pitch and in the stands as they were dumped out of the Europa League by Eintracht Frankfurt after losing 3-2 at home on Thursday to succumb 4-3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.

Barca president Joan Laporta said he was "embarrassed and ashamed" after a reported 30,000 Frankfurt fans made it into the Nou Camp for the second leg, despite away fans being allocated only 5,000 tickets.

ESPN reported there were close to 30,000 vocal Frankfurt fans among the 79,468 crowd.

To make the optics worse, Frankfurt supporters were decked out in white, the colours of Barcelona's arch-rivals Real Madrid.

The Eagles' coach Oliver Glasner said it felt as if his side were playing at home, adding: "I will remember it for the rest of my life until the day I die. I saw a stadium full of white shirts. It was very moving."

Laporta, meanwhile, told Barca TV: "There were many fans of the other team and not many of ours. I'm very sorry for what has happened.

"We will have to be much more strict. We can't allow these situations to happen."

Defender Ronald Araujo agreed, saying: "I'm surprised there are so many German fans in the stadium. The club will have to look at that."

His coach Xavi Hernandez called the situation a "miscalculation" and said it did not help his side, who suffered their first defeat in 16 matches in all competitions.

"I've tried to tell the players that the important thing is what happens on the pitch, but logically this could have affected us. It's very clear," he told a news conference.

"We've tried to focus on the game and we've not been good. It has nothing to do with one thing and the other. It's not an excuse.

"Obviously it didn't help us. It was like a final, the fans evenly divided... but on the pitch, we haven't been good, and we haven't competed."

The upset vindicated the optimism expressed by Frankfurt's sporting director Markus Krosche, who declared on Wednesday: "We'll go there and beat them."

Goalkeeper Kevin Trapp admitted after the match: "Nobody expected this, to be honest. Everyone expected us to suffer here...

"We showed we don't have to hide from anybody, but no doubt, now we want to make the final."

Added Glasner: "We knew Barcelona had problems with our strength and velocity. We made them play in areas where they didn't create any danger for us.

"The objective was to give (Sergio) Busquets problems and everything worked as we had planned."

The German side, ninth in the Bundesliga after an underwhelming league campaign, continued their impressive European run by taking a 3-0 lead midway into the second half.

Filip Kostic scored twice, the first an early penalty, either side of a stunning long-range strike by Rafael Santos Borre.

Busquets pulled one back for Barca in the 91st minute and then Memphis Depay scored a penalty in the 11th minute of stoppage time.

But it was too little, too late as Frankfurt sealed a momentous 4-3 aggregate win.

They will face West Ham United in the last four, after the Premier League side cruised past Lyon 3-0 in France to win 4-1 on aggregate.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE