German-born attacking midfielder with Ghanaian descent Ansgar Knauff has helped Eintracht Frankurt to defeat Barcelona 3-2 in the quarterfinals of Uefa Europa League. The loss surprisingly ended the Spanish giants’ European campaign at the Camp Nou on Thursday night.
Frankfurt took the lead after only four minutes through a penalty. Eric García brought down Lindstrom inside the box and Filip Kostic stepped up to send Frankfurt into the lead.
Rafael Borré doubled the German side’s advantage by the tenth minute with a screamer from 30 yards out before Kostic added another goal to make it 3-0 after the break.
Sergio Busquets pulled one back for Barcelona after he was initially denied a goal and Memphis Depaay added another goal from the spot but it was too little too late.
Ansgar lasted 89 minutes in the game for Frankfurt and had 49 touches of the ball. He also won ten out of the 18 duels that he went in completed four dribbles he attempted.
Also, he made four tackles and completed three key passes as well as won two fouls in the game.
Ansgar, 20, was born in Göttingen to a German mother and Ghanaian father, but raised by his single-mother. He began his youth career at hometown club SVG Göttingen, before joining Hannover 96’s youth academy in 2015.
A year later, he joined the Borussia Dortmund youth team, in which he played in the 2019–20 UEFA Youth League. In September 2020, he made his debut for Borussia Dortmund II in the fourth division of German football. During the 2020/21 Regionalliga West season, he appeared in 28 games for Dortmund II, scoring 9 goals.
Knauff signed his first professional contract with Borussia Dortmund on 25 November 2020, lasting until 2023. He made his debut for Dortmund’s first team on 8 December 2020, coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute for Thorgan Hazard in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League match against Zenit Saint Petersburg.
The away match finished as a 2–1 win for Dortmund. On 20 March 2021, he made his first appearance in the Bundesliga. After coming on for Thomas Meunier in the 80th minute, he provided the assist for the late equalizer in the 2-2 draw against 1. FC Köln.
He scored his first Bundesliga goal on 10 April 2021, scoring the winning goal in a 3–2 victory against VfB Stuttgart.
On 20 January 2022, Knauff joined Eintracht Frankfurt on an eighteen-month loan deal. Sebastian Kehl, Dortmund’s head of the player department, explained the move by stating that “Ansgar is a talent from our own youth academy who already brings a lot to the table. He approached us to state his wish to get more playing time on loan. We would like to offer him this chance to continue his development at a high level.”
Knauff scored his first goal for Eintracht on 5 March 2022 in a 4–1 victory against Hertha BSC.
