Barcelona President Joan Laporta "Ashamed" After Frankfurt Took Over Camp Nou

Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has admitted that his side may have been affected by the number of Eintracht Frankfurt fans at the Camp Nou on Thursday.

After drawing 1-1 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final, Barca had been hoping that home advantage could prove critical in the second.

But Frankfurt were roared on by an estimated 30,000 supporters at Barca'a Camp Nou, despite having only been given an official away allocation of 5,000.

The well-backed German side went on to win 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate to knock Barca out and book a semi-final clash with West Ham.

"Frankly what happened today makes me feel embarrassed and ashamed," Barcelona president Joan Laporta told Barca TV, as reported by The Guardian.

“There were many fans of the other team and not many of ours. I'm very sorry for what has happened.

"What we can avoid are certain situations but as of now, we will have to be much more strict. We can't allow these situations to happen."

Frankfurt fans pictured at the Camp Nou where they witnessed their side knock Barcelona out of the 2021/22 Europa League

IMAGO/NurPhoto/Xavier Bonilla

Xavi added: "I've tried to tell the players that the important thing is what happens on the pitch, but logically this could have affected us; it's very clear.

"We've tried to focus on the game and we've not been good. It has nothing to do with one thing and the other. It’s not an excuse. It hasn't helped us, but on the pitch, we haven’t been good, and we haven’t competed."

The official attendance was 79,468 but many Barcelona fans reportedly left early in protest at being surrounded by Frankfurt fans.

But how were so many Frankfurt fans able to get tickets for the game? According to Marca, there were three main factors.

It is suggested that many Frankfurt fans simply bought their tickets on general sale from Barcelona's official website, before the club noticed a spike in sales in Germany and later blocked IP addresses there.

Many of the tickets were likely bought by travel agents, who then sold them on as part of match packages to Frankfurt fans.

But the main cause was said to be Barca season-ticket holders selling their seats to Frankfurt fans because they did not wish to watch Europa League soccer.

West Ham will be hoping to avoid a repeat situation in the semi-finals, especially after Hammers fans clashed with Frankfurt supporters in Seville earlier this year.

But the Premier League club are expected to have no problem selling out the London Stadium to their own fans as the home leg will be one of the biggest games in West Ham history.