Barcelona was eliminated from the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night, losing 2-3 to Eintracht Frankfurt in the second leg of the quarter-finals at Camp Nou.
With the first leg concluding in a 1-1 deadlock, the tie was evenly positioned for the second leg at Camp Nou. The visitors, though, had a brighter start, grabbing the lead through Filip Kostic's penalty before Rafael Borre extended the lead with a spectacular shot.
In the second half, Kostic made it 3-0, all but confirming Frankfurt's promotion. The Blaugrana did stage a late comeback, with Sergio Busquets and Memphis Depay scoring, but it was too little, too late.
Despite being one of the favourites to win the event, Xavi Hernandez and his teammates were eliminated after a lackluster performance. Defender Eric Garcia was the one who fouled Jesper Lindstrom, resulting in the early penalty, which Kostic converted.
After the game, the Spaniard talked to the media about the atmosphere at Camp Nou that night. The stadium was packed with more Frankfurt fans than usual for an away game, which the defender, like his boss Xavi, found peculiar.
"What occurred today in the stands is weird and unusual, and I want to thank every Barcelona supporter who came today," Garcia added.
The former Manchester City star went on to say that the team's emphasis would now be solely on ending the league season on a high note.
"Our goal now is to finish La Liga as well as we can," Garcia stated.
The Spanish international had also surrendered a penalty in the last league game against Levante and will be looking to rebound strongly when Barça plays Cadiz on Monday.