Such was the torment suffered by Barcelona for an hour in Frankfurt that achieving a draw was little short of a blessing.
Eintracht subjected Xavi's footballers to torture that, if it wasn't definitive, was because the coach knew how to correct himself in time.
He rescued Dembélé from the bench.
Also De Jong.
The first, with that careless bohemian demeanor, finally dared to put in an inside pass.
And the second found a double wall with Ferran Torres so that he, with the toe, reached the goal that allowed the azulgrana to continue aspiring to the semifinals of the Europa League.
The upper ring of the legendary Waldstadion in Frankfurt, through which an icy wind blew through, called for attention with its menacing appearance.
The darkness of the upper part of the stands contrasted with a red lighting that plunged those present into something similar to an earthly hell.
Eintracht Frankfurt received Barcelona with the conviction that they were facing one of the most important events in recent years.
This was demonstrated by a dedicated fan who left their lives in each jump, in each shout of encouragement.
The field trembled.
And Barcelona, who had already visited Istanbul in the previous round, quickly understood that if they did not get involved in the fight, the rival would run over them.
As much as Eintracht is just ninth in the Bundesliga or its players are not very technically savvy.
Ferran Torres started the night with a great shot that was met by goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
But the first Barcelona approach was far from a harbinger of what would come next.
Because the losses of Barcelona began to occur in the construction phase, just what the locals expected to throw themselves like wolves for the dam.
A frenetic transition concocted by Lindstrom and to which the right-handed winger Knauff made sense with a back pass allowed Sow to find one of those occasions that any footballer dreams of: alone at the penalty spot and with goalkeeper Ter Stegen with the rosary in the hands.
But the midfielder, who is right-handed, finished off so badly with his left foot that the ball betrayed him to go where he shouldn't have.
overrun
The plan hatched by Xavi did not work in that first act.
The Barça coach thought to counteract the passion with which Eintracht interprets its peculiar 3-4-2-1 by seating De Jong and Dembélé from the start so that Gavi and Adama, who had lost camber in recent weeks, were the starters.
The winger, who found double help on his shore, stood out more for his slips than for looking for space runs.
While the young palatial midfielder, despite striving to unsuspected limits, he failed to give clarity to his team.
The same thing happened to Pedri, whom the German footballers managed to gobble up for long stretches.
Only the solitary maneuvers of Ferran Torres offered some light to a Barcelona that could not keep up with Glasner's footballers.
What does it matter that Eintracht's plan was the simplest.
Deny the time and space of the azulgrana and perpetrate apparently incoherent attacks due to their speed, but very dangerous.
Gavi took a cross into the area that Knauff was expecting with the hammer.
Although Barcelona was much closer to the precipice with the penalty that the Serbian referee Jovanovic saw fit to rectify after being warned by the VAR.
The referee went to the monitor to show that Sergio Busquets, when Santos Borré was already preparing to execute Ter Stegen after Kostic's umpteenth center, reached the ball earlier.
Pique's injury
A Barcelona that had lost Piqué in the 23rd minute due to a muscle injury got rid of that.
Although Lenglet, his substitute, little could change.
Things did not improve at the beginning of the second half because there was no way to equalize the physical battle, nor were the Barça players capable of linking passes with meaning.
Until Eintracht found the prize for its competitive desire with the shoe to Knauff's squad.
Despite the fact that what he had to do was defend a corner, nobody thought it appropriate to monitor the former Dortmund winger on the front.
And well that Knauff thanked him, with Ter Stegen as a spectator.
The blow could have been even worse had he found Lindstrom's door immediately afterwards.
The changes have arrived.
Xavi noticed that Gavi and Adama had not worked.
And the precision with which De Jong frolicked with Ferran Torres ended up getting a Barcelona out of the mess that, despite playing in superiority after Tuta's expulsion in 78, no longer had the strength for more.
This time it was enough to survive.
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