8:03 AM ET
Sam Marsden
Moises Llorens
Xavi Hernandez has said Barcelona’s players felt like they were “robbed in their own home” after around 30,000 Eintracht Frankfurt fans gained entry to Camp Nou for Thursday’s Europa League quarterfinal.
German side Frankfurt won the game 3-2 to set up a semifinal against West Ham United, with Xavi claiming the atmosphere had a big effect on Barca’s performance.
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“The players did not feel like they were playing at home,” Xavi said ahead of Monday’s LaLiga game against Cadiz.
“It’s not an excuse, but the atmosphere conditioned us. We were not comfortable. I had a bad feeling from the first moment when we got on the bus at the hotel and we did not feel at home.
“They were throwing everything at us, [the players] couldn’t even get down the tunnel. Then we gave a penalty away in the first minute. It was a fateful night in every sense, sporting and institutionally. It started badly and ended badly. You feel robbed in your own home.”
Barca gave Frankfurt 5,000 tickets for the game officially, but many more were able to purchase seats in the home end, with upwards of 30,000 German fans thought to have been among the 79,000 crowd.
President Joan Laporta has said Barca will make tickets for non-domestic games non-transferrable from now on, but Xavi still wants an explanation from the club as to how they effectively gave up home advantage for such a big game.
“The club will give an explanation at some point — or at least find solutions so it does not happen again,” Xavi added.
“It was the club’s mistake, for sure. When the club finds out what errors led to Thursday’s events, they will explain it to us.”
The ticket fiasco has, in part, covered up a poor run of performances. Barca clicked into top gear before March’s international break with a 4-0 win over Real Madrid but, following a narrow win over Sevilla, they have struggled in two games against Frankfurt and…
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