Nov 28, 2023 at 9:01 PM Update: 13 minutes ago
FC Barcelona qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League again on Tuesday after three years. The Catalan club won 2-1 at home against FC Porto and the other match in group H was lost 1-0 by Royal Antwerp against Shakhtar Donetsk.
With the 2-1 win, Barcelona is already assured of first place in the group with one round to go. Barcelona started the match against FC Porto weakly, with Frenkie de Jong in midfield.
Porto was more decisive. Barcelona goalkeeper Iñaki Peña turned away a shot from Wenderson Galeno, but he hit the ball at the feet of Brazilian Pepê, who gave the Portuguese the lead.
Less than a minute later it was already 1-1. In a quick counterattack, Pedri found João Cancelo on the left flank, who first passed a Porto defender and then fired the ball hard into Diogo Costa’s goal. In the second half, the initiative lay with Barcelona and after just under an hour, Xavi’s team made it 2-1. João Félix set up an attack with Cancelo, got the ball back and scored.
Despite the defeat, Porto remained second in the group with nine points. The Portuguese club will compete with Shakhtar Donetsk in the final group round for a place in the knockout phase. The club from Ukraine, trained by Marino Pusic, also reached nine points with the 1-0 win over Antwerp.
Van Bommel loses again with Antwerp
For Royal Antwerp, the first Champions League adventure only became more painful on Tuesday due to the defeat in Hamburg. Mark van Bommel’s team is still winless, with only a home match against FC Barcelona to go.
The only goal at Shakthar-Antwerp came after twelve minutes. Mykola Matviyenko headed home from a free kick by Oleksandr Zubkov. Both teams were fairly evenly matched, but Shakhtar had the best chances.
Irakli Azarovi and Taras Stepanenko shot the ball onto the crossbar in the second half. At Antwerp, Owen Wijndal, Gyrano Kerk and Vincent Janssen were in the starting line-up.
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FC BarcelonaChampions LeagueShakhtar DonetskRoyal Antwerp
2023-11-28 22:30:53
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