The Blaugrana take on Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-final first-leg on Thursday night, Xavi the coach of the away team was unhappy with the state of the pitch and said his side struggled to produce their best on a “difficult” surface.
Barça has won their last four matches in all competitions and was hoping for a positive result against tough opposition at Commerzbank-Arena last night, Xavi has made three changes to the starting lineup that won 1-0 against Sevilla on the weekend.
Ferran Torres cancelled out Ansgar Knauff’s first-half opener in the second half last night with Frankfurt finishing the match with 10 men, the next leg of the tie at Spain will be honored without the services of Gerard Pique the longest central defender in the team.
Following a fortnight’s rest after a stunning 4-0 win against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu in El Clasico, Barca is now at the business end of their season and will need every single squad member at their disposal to head through a difficult run of games and finish 2021/2022 in the best possible fashion.
The coach of Barcelona thinks that the pitch is not in a good condition compared to Camp Nou where the return leg of the tie will be played, he said in a post-match interview, “It is a difficult pitch, a complicated pitch (to play on). The grass was not in the best condition, and it made it difficult for us. I think the pitch will be better for the second leg. Today the ball did not move well. That is another reality and it cost us. You had to do one more touch and everything slowed down. Well, at the Camp Nou it will be different.”
