Despite a disappointing start to the current football season, the Frankfurt club face a grand European game on Thursday. With a capacity of 48,500, host fans have submitted 250,000 ticket requests to watch the Barcelona game. Only a select few will be able to visit Deutsche Bank Park on that day, so the home team cannot disappoint them.

Nevertheless, the bookmakers consider Eintracht to be the underdog. On the one hand, this is fair enough. Not only because of the opponent, but also because of the team's unstable playing form this season. For example, Eintracht suffered three defeats in a row in February, the first half of March was marked by three wins, and now the club has three draws in a row. That said, splitting points with Leipzig, Germany's top team of 2022, could be considered as Eintracht`s success, while the subsequent 0-0 home draw with Groiter Fürth was a clear failure. The latter result can also be explained by the German team's preparation for the encounter with Barcelona. In the previous round of the tournament, Eintracht had exchanged away wins with Betis, but in the return leg they beat their opponents on 120 +1 minutes.

Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage for the first time in many years and have only a slim chance of winning the title in the Primera. In other words, the Europa League could be a useful tournament for the Catalans to brighten their season. Barça approach the upcoming trip to Germany in high spirits. Xavi's team have won four games in a row, including a 4-0 thrashing of arch-enemy Madrid. Barcelona have not lost in the last 2.5 months.

The visitors' status as favourites is hard to dispute, but Eintracht are historically phenomenal at home, which could affect the outcome of the upcoming meeting. It is important to note that in six of their last eight Europa League games, Eintracht have scored against their opponents even before the break. We'll bet on goals from both teams before the final whistle.