Even though last weekend was already over the top in the competition against Levante and even though the first leg had ended at 1-1, Barcelona was still the top favorite at Camp Nou.
But the run of 15 unbeaten games came under fire after just a few minutes, not coincidentally in a European home game: Kostic took Frankfurt ahead from the spot.
The home team was of course given the ball afterwards (69 percent possession before half-time), but the German visitors – fired on by a particularly noisy supporters section – were razor sharp in the transition.
After 37 minutes, Borré completely silenced the Catalan hearts: his cruise missile left Ter Stegen without a chance.
With a much-needed wipe of the foot, the German goalkeeper gave his team a lifeline just before the hour after a new razor-sharp German counter, on a cross-corner bang by Kostic he had no story not much later.
A remontada was out of the question, although things still started to haunt for a while when Busquets volleyed the 1-3 into goal and Depay was able to use a penalty after 11 minutes of extra time in a pressing and chaotic final phase.
There was no more kick-off, much to the relief of Frankfurt, which, however, did not steal the qualification with a perfect plan.
