Shakhtar surprised Barcelona in the Champions League

He Shakthar Donestk from Ukraine, in his Hamburg exile, caused a great surprise and defeated Barcelona (1-0) in a new failed exercise for those of Xavi Hernandezz, who squandered the first chance to confirm their place in the round of 16 of the Champions League.

For him Barcelona The game was a nightmare, a failed exercise, teams without direction and losing credibility with every game. IN HamburgOr, the goal of the Ukrainian ‘9’ Sikan in the 40th minute was enough to seal the deal.

If after the victory in stoppage time and with many doubts about his game in San Sebastián, justification Xavi Hernandez It was a post-classical syndrome; in Hamburg The same dynamic was repeated.

There was no news from Barca during the first half, where they didn’t even finish between three sticks. With flat football, without overflow and too predictable, the Blaugranas spent too many minutes chasing the orange jerseys of the Ukrainians, against a team that knew from the beginning what they had to play.

He’s back Barça to its classic design, 4-3-3 with two full-backs and a central pair that make up Araujo and Christensen, who was one of the best Catalans for a few minutes.

In average, Oriol Romeo He looked very gray again, Gündogan wasn’t good behind the wheel and Gavi offered little more than a sacrifice. Upstairs, the trio of attackers remained unnoticed for many minutes. TO Lewandowski No balls reached him and the two extremes (Raphinha and Ferran) never overflowed.

So, those of Mario Pušić, salvo in a couple of indecisive actions, more a product of the consistency of his style of play, which for another reason, they missed a couple of opportunities in the opening minutes, two more fears due to an attempt to play risky from the back than for the merits of those of Xavi.

And that is that he Barça It gave no signs of life. Neither pressure nor construction. In the first 45 minutes, the Blaugrana, apart from two shots from outside the penalty area, did not attempt any more. He Shakhtar He warned several times, always in braids, building with patience.

At a quarter of an hour, Matviyenko surpassed I cancel In the long ball, the Blaugranas were also lucky, Ter Stegen, again the German goalkeeper, was attentive and broke through the clean chance of the Ukrainians.

Without news from Barca, Shakhtar grew and in the best game of the match scored for 1-0 in the 40th minute, in a collective action, 27 passes per minute. The ball reached Sudakov, who transferred it over Gocholeivshvili, and the cross was finished by Sikan, who arrived in front of the team’s four defenders. Xavi.

In the first minutes of the resumption, the Blaugranas seemed to be better placed on the field, but again a mistake in concentration, this time by Marcos Alonso, allowed Gocholeivshvili (min. 48) to worry the team again. Ter Stegen, which was shown again in the 57th minute, after Sikan’s shot, when Barcelona was already more clear.

Xavi He decided to change the team with four changes with half an hour to go. He threw in the game Pedri, Joao Félix, Lamine Yamal and Balde Oriol Romeu, Ferran Torres, Raphinha and Marcos Alonso.

and Barça changed its face and in the last twenty minutes the Blaugrana closed the Ukrainians in their field, although without any significant opportunities, except for hanging balls that did not pose a danger for Riznyk.

Fermín came on for Gavi, but he did BarcelonaHe still didn’t react. Moreover, in the 87th minute, Newertton scored in a counterattack for 2:0, but it was canceled due to offside.

The defeat does not complicate the European future of the Catalans, but it creates more tension after they set the classification very well with three wins in the first three games. Given the situation, the match in Montjuïc vs Port This will be crucial for the development of the group.

Technical document

1 – Skhahtar Donetsk: Riznyk Gocholeivshvili, Bondar, Rakitskiy, Matviyenko; Stepanenko (Nazaryna, min. 73), Kryskiv, Sudakov; Zubkov, Sikan (Kelsy, min. 62) and Newertton (min. 97).

0 – Barcelona: Ter Stegen Joao Cancelo, Araujo, Christensen, Marcos Alonso (Balde, min. 60); Romeo (Pedri, min. 60), Gündogan, Gavi (Fermín, min. 81); Raphinha (Lamine Yamal, min. 60), Lewandowski and Ferran (Joao Félix, min. 60).

Goal: 1-0, min. 40: Chicane.