Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has complained over the number of away fans during the club’s Europa League clash against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night.
The Catalan club crashed out of the Europa League after losing 3-2 (4-3 on agg) at home to the German club in a night their recent good run came to an end.
The presence of away fans at Camp Nou, who stayed to celebrate long after the final whistle, was a concern for the former midfielder.
“I was expecting 70,000 or 80,000 cules here but it wasn’t like that,” Xavi told reporters. “The club is checking what happened.”
Ronald Araujo added to Movistar+: “I’m surprised there are so many German fans in the stadium. The club will have to look at that.”
30,000 Eintracht Frankfurt fans marching through Barcelona on their way to the Camp Nou. All in white.
What a sight. #SGE #FCBSGE pic.twitter.com/OXw6Vunm75
— Felix Tamsut (@ftamsut) April 14, 2022
Barcelona were favourites going into the match, but Flip Kostic’s fourth-minute opener changed the mood at Camp Nou.
The hosts could not respond in time, allowing the Germans to control the match for long periods before adding a second in the 36th minute.
Kostic added his second and Frankfurt’s third with less than 25 minutes to go, before a pair of stoppage-time consolation goals from the Blaugrana.