Barca draws 1-1 with Frankfurt as Leipzig also held by Atalanta
Barcelona players Ferran Torres (R) and Sergio Busquets shake hands as they walk off the pitch after the UEFA Europa League quarterfinal, first leg soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Barcelona in Frankfurt, Germany, April 7, 2022. (EPA Photo)


Barcelona came from behind to draw 1-1 at 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal tie on Thursday.

Frankfurt led from Ansgar Knauff's sensational strike in the 49th minute, but Barca was level in the 66th from Ferran Torres and Frankfurt then lost Tuta on a second bookable offense with 12 minutes left.

The other German club, RB Leipzig, was also held 1-1 at home by Atalanta; 10-man West Ham United and Olympique Lyon produced the third 1-1 of the night, while Portugal's Braga were the only winners 1-0 against Rangers.

In Frankfurt, the hosts earned a penalty in the 40th, but it was nullified upon a video that showed that Sergio Busquets had played the ball before Rafael Borre went down under his challenge.

However, the 2019 semifinalists Frankfurt went 1-0 up shortly after the restart when a corner was cleared into the path of Knauff, who smashed home into the top left corner.

Jesper Lindström almost made it 2-0 a minute later but fired inches high with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen well beaten.

But Xavi's Barca was level in the 66th after a slick move involving substitutes Ousmane Dembele and Luuk de Jong whose pass was slotted into the bottom corner by Torres.

Frankfurt's hopes took another hit when Tuta got his marching orders after bringing down Torres, and they now face an uphill battle next week at the Camp Nou.

"To go behind but end up drawing might end up a very valuable result for the second leg. Frankfurt was a tough rival – they made things difficult," Torres said.

Atalanta drew first blood in Leipzig when Luis Muriel ran past defender Lukas Klostermann and smashed the ball into the top far right corner.

Both sides hit the post before Atalanta's Merih Demiral was ruled to have tripped Christopher Nkunko as Leipzig was awarded a penalty, but goalkeeper Juan Musso denied Silva from the spot and also Willi Orban on the rebound.

But Leipzig was level seconds later when Davide Zappacosta, under pressure from Orban, bundled Angelino's cross into his own net.

Leipzig substitute Dominik Szoboszlai headed against the crossbar as the tie will be decided in the second leg next week in Bergamo. "It will be an interesting second game," Leipzig captain Peter Gulacsi said. "We have shown in this Europa League season that we can win away from home."

In London, West Ham had Aaron Cresswell sent off shortly before half-time for what seemed to be the last man foul, but Jarrod Bowen put them 1-0 up in their first European quarter-final in 41 years. However.

Tanguy Ndombele leveled for Lyon, with former Germany defender Jerome Boateng not looking good.

Braga got the only win on the night from Abel Ruiz's first-half strike against Rangers, who will still hope to reverse matters in Glasgow.