Online Reporter
UNLIKELY goalscoring hero Jules Kounde bagged two headers to help Barcelona beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 on Tuesday night in the Champions League football and bolster the club’s chances of a top eight league phase finish.
Ansgar Knauff sent the visitors into a surprise lead but French defender Kounde’s brace early in the second-half put last season’s semi-finalists in control.
In the club’s first Champions League match back at Camp Nou since 2022, they gained revenge against a Frankfurt side who humiliated them in the Europa League in that same year.
The German Bundesliga team packed the Camp Nou with their own fans and knocked Barca out of that competition at one of their lowest ebbs under Xavi Hernandez.
With a domestic treble and a run to the final four of the Champions League, Xavi’s successor Hansi Flick has changed the mood around Barca, but this season the team have struggled at times.
Defeats by Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain left Barca in a difficult position in Europe, but by beating Frankfurt they are still hopeful of avoiding the play-off round.
Barcelona controlled the opening period, pinning the visitors, who lost 6-0 against RB Leipzig on Saturday in the Bundesliga, back in their own territory.
Veteran striker Robert Lewandowski put the ball in the net but it was ruled out for an off-side earlier in the move.
Despite their dominant start, the Catalans fell behind after 21 minutes, caught out by a rapid Frankfurt counter-attack.
Lamine Yamal dribbled into trouble and Nathaniel Brown surged forward from the back before dropping a ball in behind Barca’s high defensive line for Knauff to charge on to.
Gerard Martin tried and failed to intercept it with a flick of the leg and the German striker held off Alejandro Balde before finishing neatly.
Teenage star Yamal could not find a way past Brown in one of his more erratic outings for Barca.
Barcelona came out all guns blazing in the second half and were helped by the introduction of on-loan Manchester United winger Marcus Rashford.
The England international teed up Raphinha, who blazed over, before whipping in a cross for Kounde to head home in the 50th minute.
The French defender, who has particularly struggled this season, was Barcelona’s hero against Frankfurt as he grabbed his second of the night three minutes later.
Liverpool defy Salah crisis to beat Inter
Liverpool bounced back from a damaging row with Mohamed Salah by beating Inter Milan 1-0 and kicking their Champions League football campaign back into life.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s late penalty gave the Reds a huge win at the San Siro in the absence of Egypt star Salah, who was left in England after publicly criticising manager Arne Slot at the weekend.
Liverpool fans loudly chanted Slot’s name at the end of a largely drab match which was decided by Felix Zwayer’s decision to give the English champions a perfect chance to snatch the points.
Inter’s players were enraged at the awarding of the spot-kick for a light shirt tug by Alessandro Bastoni on Florian Wirtz, but it gave Slot a happy end to a troubled few days.
The closest either team came to scoring before then was when Ibrahima Konate had his close-range header ruled out, after a lengthy VAR check, for a Hugo Ekitike handball in the 37th minute.
Tuesday’s win puts Liverpool on 12 points from six games and inside the top eight positions which offer direct qualification for the last 16, ahead of last night’s fixtures.
Inter, meanwhile, are fifth on the same tally but have lost their last two European fixtures and created nearly nothing against an injury-hit Liverpool who were missing not just rebel star Salah but also unfit Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo.
Maresca rues easy goals
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was disappointed by how his side conceded two second-half goals to throw away their lead and slump to a 2-1 defeat at Atalanta.
Joao Pedro broke the deadlock for Chelsea after 25 minutes, but Italian Serie A side Atalanta returned with far more intent after the break and overturned the deficit through goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Charles De Ketelaere. — AFP Sport.
