10-man Frankfurt secure draw with Barca

Ferran Torres' equalizer clinched Barcelona a 1-1 draw with 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of Europa League's quarterfinal on Thursday, reported Xinhua.

The visitors from Spain started powerfully into the encounter as Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp had to tip Torres' hammer over the crossbar in the 3rd minute.

The "Eagles" responded in style and missed the golden chance to break the deadlock three minutes later as Djibril Sow had the entire goal to aim for but pulled wide from inside the box.

Barcelona remained dangerous and came to a promising chance in the 17th minute when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired the ball from a tight angle into the side netting.

The hosts got a penalty awarded at the other end of the pitch but Sergio Busquet's challenge inside Barcelona's box was overruled after a review in the 38th minute.

Frankfurt caught a fairy tale start into the second half and opened the scoring through Dortmund loanee Ansgar Knauff, who controlled a Filip Kostic corner at the edge of the box before drilling the ball past Marc Andre ter Stegen into the top right corner.

Barcelona remained unfazed and answered in the 66th minute when substitute Frenkie de Jong traded passes with Torres, who found the bottom corner from a central position.

The hosts had to swallow another setback in the 78th minute as Tuta received his marching orders after booking his second yellow card for a foul on Pedri.

Barcelona pressed forward but Frankfurt's defense stood firm to take a 1-1 draw into the second leg at Camp Nou.

"We played out a 1-1 draw against Barcelona, but we are a bit disappointed as we played very well and worked out many clear-cut chances. We must build on this result in the second leg next week. Today we showed that we can hold the pace with one of the best teams," said Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.

"We knew that Frankfurt is a strong team, especially with their fans on home soil. We needed some time to gain a foothold into the game, but I think 1-1 is a decent result," said Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen.