Eintracht Frankfurt knocked favorites Barcelona out of the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday, while West Ham United and Rangers joined RB Leipzig in qualifying for the last four.
Frankfurt beat Barcelona 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate after Serbian international Filip Kostic scored twice either side of a Rafael Santos Borre goal at the Camp Nou.
Sergio Busquets netted a late consolation for Barcelona before Memphis Depay’s even later penalty, but Eintracht hung on, much to the pleasure of the estimated 30,000 German fans in attendance.
They advance to their second Europa League semi-final in four seasons, after losing on penalties to Chelsea in the same round last year.
“I am speechless. Nobody expected this, if you are honest. Everyone expected us to suffer,” said Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
Barcelona’s recent comeback under Xavi Hernandez has been incredible, but this setback means they have only won once at home in Europe this season, and their season is now certain to conclude without a trophy.
“It’s a hammer blow for us. They deserved to go through,” admitted Xavi.
Barca went behind to another spot-kick just four minutes against Eintracht, as Kostic converted after a foul by Eric Garcia, much to the delight of the huge away support.
Borre, a Colombian forward, drove high into the net from range in the 36th minute, and Kostic’s low finish into the far corner made it 3-0 midway through the second half.
Busquets had a late goal disallowed for offside before scoring in the first minute of injury time with a spectacular drive from 20 metres.
Depay scored a penalty after Evan Ndicka was sent off for a second yellow card for a foul on Luuk de Jong in the 11th minute of extra time.
West Ham outclass Lyon
Eintracht has not lost to a Spanish team since the 1960 European Cup final against Real Madrid, and they will meet West Ham in the semi-finals.
After outclassing Lyon in France, the English team advanced to their first European semi-final since losing the 1976 Cup Winners’ Cup final to Anderlecht, winning 3-0 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate.
Craig Dawson headed in a Pablo Fornals corner in the 38th minute of the second half to give the Hammers the lead.
Just before the halftime, captain Declan Rice scored their second goal, a deflected sidefoot attempt from the edge of the area beating Lyon goalkeeper Julian Pollersbeck.
Three minutes after the restart, West Ham scored again, this time through Fornals, who sent Jarrod Bowen away to make it 3-0.
“The journey in two years, we were talking about relegation, and now we’re talking about getting to the semi-final of a European tournament. It’s fabulous, and we’re all going to look forward to it,” said West Ham manager David Moyes.
Rangers through in extra time
Rangers were brought to extra time by Braga in Glasgow, where they won 3-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate despite the Portuguese team finishing the game with nine men.
Rangers took the lead in the second minute through James Tavernier, and they had another goal disallowed, then hit the post before gaining a penalty right before halftime.
Tavernier scored from the penalty spot after Vitor Tormena was sent off for a tackle on Kemar Roofe.
The game went to extra time thanks to David Carmo’s 83rd-minute header, but Roofe’s 101st-minute goal put Rangers back in lead on aggregate, and Braga sent Iuri Medeiros off.
Rangers will now meet Leipzig in a European semi-final for the first time since reaching the 2008 UEFA Cup final.
Leipzig overcame Atalanta 2-0 in Italy to win their last-eight encounter 3-1 on aggregate. French international Christopher Nkunku scored both goals.
Nkunku scored his 30th goal of the season in all competitions in the 18th minute in Bergamo, and then added a late penalty.
