It’s a hammer blow for us: Xavi Hernandez

Barcelona were dumped out of the Europa League on Thursday as Eintracht Frankfurt pulled off a shock 32 victory at Camp Nou to progress to the semifinalsAfter the first leg finished 11 in Germany last week Barca were strong favourites to win at home against a side sitting ninth in the Bundesliga But Frankfurt inspired by an incredible travelling support of around 20000 fans outplayed the Catalans Filip Kostic scoring twice the first an early penalty either side of a stunning longrange strike by Rafael Santos BorreXavi HernandezSergio Busquets pulled one back for Barcelona in the 91st minute and then Memphis Depay scored a penalty in the 11th minute of injury time as the hosts attempted a late comeback But it was too little too late as Frankfurt sealed a momentous 43 aggregate win They will face West Ham in the last four after the Premier League side cruised past Lyon ldquoItrsquos a hammer blow for us They deserved to go throughrdquo said Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez who was also unhappy at the number of away fans inside the stadium ldquoObviously it didnrsquot help usrdquo Xavi addedldquoIt was like a final the fans evenly divided The club is checking what happened but it was an error on our part Wersquoll go there and beat themrdquo Frankfurtrsquos sporting director Markus Kroesche had said on Wednesday but few believed it possible not least because of Barcelonarsquos brilliant recent run of form under Xavi They were undefeated since December in all competitions and have surged up to second in La Liga after thrashing Real Madrid 40 at the Santiago Bernabeu less than a month agoFilip KosticWhile that run means Barca should no longer need the Europa League to qualify for the Champions League next season this was a great chance for Xavi to add a trophy to what has been an impressive first few months as coach Instead Frankfurt go through to the last four and the German club will now be eyeing a first European triumph since they won the UEFA Cup in 1980West Ham outclass LyonMeanwhile West Ham United and Rangers joined RB Leipzig in qualifying for the last four Yet Eintracht maintained their record of not having lost to Spanish opposition since the 1960 European Cup final against Real Madrid and they will face West Ham in the semifinals The English side are through to their first European semifinal since losing the 1976 Cup Winnersrsquo Cup final to Anderlecht after they outclassed Lyon in France winning 30 on the night and 41 on aggregate The Hammers took the lead in the 38th minute of the return when Craig Dawson headed in a Pablo Fornals corner Captain Declan Rice slotted in their second just before the break his sidefoot effort from the edge of the area beating Lyon goalkeeper Julian Pollersbeck with the aid of a deflection The outcome was put beyond doubt when West Ham scored again three minutes after the restart as Fornals sent Jarrod Bowen away to make it 30Rangers throughThere was drama in Glasgow as Rangers were taken to extra time by Braga before winning 31 on the night and 32 on aggregate as the Portuguese side finished the game with nine men James Tavernier gave Rangers a secondminute lead to level the tie on aggregate and they had another goal disallowed and then hit the woodwork before winning a penalty just before the intervalVitor Tormena was sent off for a foul on Kemar Roofe and Tavernier netted from the spot David Carmorsquos 83rdminute header took the tie to extra time but Roofersquos 101stminute finish put Rangers back in front on aggregate and Braga then had Iuri Medeiros dismissed Rangers will now face Leipzig in their first European semifinal since reaching the 2008 UEFA Cup finalFrench international Christopher Nkunku scored both goals as Leipzig beat Atalanta 20 in Italy to win their lasteight tie 31 on aggregate Nkunku opened the scoring in the 18th minute in Bergamo and then added a late penalty his 30th goal of the season in all competitionsConference League Leicester set up semis clash v RomaLeicester battled back to beat PSV Eindhoven 21 on Thursday in the Europa Conference League to reach a European semifinal for the first time in their history where they will face Jose Mourinhorsquos RomaAfter a goalless draw in the first leg in England last week PSV took the lead in the quarterfinal tie through Eran Zahavi But late goals from James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira sent Brendan Rodgersrsquo EPL side throughThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever