PARIS – Barcelona failed to win an away match in the UEFA Europa League for the first time after it was held 1-1 by 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt in the first-leg of the quarter-finals.
Ferran Torres salvaged the draw in the second-tier European competition with an equalizer following a series of fluent passes around the box in the 66th minute, AP reported.
Barcelona was knocked out of the lucrative Champions League in the team’s first post-Lionel Messi season.
It is playing for the first time in the Europa League and never won its precursor, the UEFA Cup, reaching the semi-finals on four occasions but not getting to a final.
Frankfurt won the UEFA Cup in 1980.
Rebuilding under recently hired coach Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona has relied on big away performances to get to the last eight, beating Napoli (4-2) and Galatasaray (2-1) on the road after first-leg home draws.
In other games, 10-man West Ham also drew 1-1 with Lyon. The Hammers reached the quarter-finals of a European competition for the first time since 1981 after eliminating six-time champion Sevilla.
Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso saved a penalty and a follow-up attempt but he couldn´t keep out an own-goal by Davide Zappacosta from the resulting corner as Leipzig salvaged a 1-1 draw.
Also, Braga beat Rangers 1-0.
In the Europa Conference League, Roma, one of the favorites to win UEFA´s new third-tier competition, failed to get its revenge at Bodo/Glimt and lost 2-1.
The Norwegian club routed Roma 6-1 in the group stage for Jose Mourinho´s biggest loss as a coach. Bodo/Glimt also earned a draw in the return match in Italy, and has eliminated Celtic and AZ Alkmaar in the knockout stage.
Also, Leicester was held 0-0 at home by PSV Eindhoven, Marseille beat PAOK Thessaloniki 2-1 and Slavia Prague earned a 3-3 draw at Feyenoord.
EUROPA LEAGUE
In Frankfurt, Barcelona defender Gerard Pique had to be substituted in the 23rd minute due to an injury after he slipped and could not continue.
In the first half, Barcelona didn´t look like the in-form team that has moved to second place in the Spanish league.
Ansgar Knauff put the hosts ahead three minutes into the second half with a dipping shot after Barcelona failed to clear a corner. Brazilian defender Tuta received his second yellow in the 78th minute and was ejected.
West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell downed Lyon forward Moussa Dembele, who was running on goal outside the area, and received a straight red in first-half injury time.
Despite that setback, West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen delighted the packed London Stadium by giving the hosts the lead on a counterattack early in the second half.
Tanguy Ndombele, who is on loan at Lyon from Tottenham, canceled out that lead to give the visitors a decent result ahead of the second-leg.
Atalanta’s Musso denied Andre Silva from the spot in the 58th minute, and also denied Willi Orban from the rebound in Leipzig.
Moments later, Zappacosta was under pressure from a corner and sent the ball into his own net.
Luis Muriel´s first-half goal gave Atalanta the lead after he cut into the box from the left to beat Leipzig goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi with an angled shot into the roof of the net.
Both sides hit the woodwork twice. Atalanta is bidding to become the first Italian club to win the competition since Parma won its precursor, the UEFA Cup, in 1999.
Abel Ruiz netted the sole goal five minutes before halftime for Braga against Rangers. In another chance, Ricardo Horta hit the post.
EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
Hugo Vetlesen scored the winning goal for Bodo/Glimt in the 89th minute after teammate Ulrik Saltnes had equalized around 10 minutes into the second half.
Roma´s Henrikh Mkhitaryan chipped the ball over the defense for Lorenzo Pellegrini to fire home two minutes before the interval.
Gerson volleyed in the opening goal for Marseille. Dimitri Payet, who set up that first goal, doubled the advantage at the end of the first half with a perfect drive off Cengiz Under´s corner.
Payet picked up a piece of broken glass on the field during the game – as he prepared to take a corner – and gave it to the referee.
Leicester’s Harvey Barnes hit the bar and Kelechi Iheanacho chipped wide in the first half against PSV.
Ibrahim Traore scored with a backheel shot in the dying seconds of injury time for Slavia Prague to earn a draw. It was the third encounter between the Dutch and Czech clubs this season.
Orkun Kokcu scored with a low free kick four minutes before the end to put Feyenoord 3-2 up in an entertaining game in Rotterdam.
Elsewhere, RB Leipzig needed an own goal by Davide Zappacosta to salvage a 1-1 draw in an absorbing Europa League quarter-final first leg against Atalanta at the RB Arena.
Luis Muriel’s individual effort after 17 minutes gave the Italian side the lead as he cut into the box and evaded two challenges before sending a powerful shot past Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
The hosts improved after halftime and got their equaliser just before the hour mark. Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso saved Andre Silva’s penalty and denied Willi Orban from the rebound but could not keep out Zappacosta’s header from the resulting corner.
Both teams hit the woodwork twice and Atalanta defender Merih Demiral cleared Nordi Mukiele’s shot off the goal line in stoppage time.
