Revenge victory on football are perhaps the sweetest wins any team would love to clinch against an opposition who beat them in their previous encounter. This is exactly what we got to witness in Tuesday’s Group H face-off between Shakhtar Donetsk and Barcelona at Hamburg, wherein Shakhtar pulled off a surprise 1-0 victory over their opponents. This was a revenge victory for the Shaks, who previously faced off against Barce two weeks prior in a 2-1 losing effort at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
It was Danylo Sikan’s first-half goal that helped the hosts to register their second group stage victory in the Champions League. The win keeps them safely at the third spot in the Group H rankings with 6 points, behind table toppers Barcelona and Porto. This was Barcelona’s first loss this season, having won their last three matches on the trot.
The golden moment for the Ukranians came just five minutes prior to the half-time whistle when Danylo Sikan jumped up just in time to meet Giorgi Gocholeishvili’s sublime cross, sending in a looping header past keeper Marc-André ter Stegen to net the first goal of the night. With 40 minutes on the clock, Shakhtar took a motivating 1-0 lead over the visitors.
Shakhtar might have had their second goal of the night when Newerton seemingly scored in the second half. However, the celebrations lasted only a few seconds as the teenager’s effort was ruled out for offside.
Danylo’s goal, aided by a brilliant assist by Gocholeishvili helped Shakhtar Donetsk beat Barcelona for the first time in 15 years, having last beat the Spanish side in December 2008. The Barca fans were left with utter disappointment as despite dominating possession, the Spaniards were unable to break down the Ukrainian hosts.
All eyes were on Robert Lewandowski, who failed to score for Barcelona for the sixth straight game now, which will be a concern for Xavi and crew. Regardless of the loss though, Barcelona remain top of Group H with 9 points.
They missed out on the chance to become the first team to make it to the knockout stages of the Champions League and will have to wait one more match to cross that line. They will next be facing off against Porto, who are now levelled at 9 points with them after their 2-0 win over Antwerp on Tuesday.
The Shaks picked up the win and the crucial three points to stay well ahead of Antwerp in the Group H standings, meaning they will AT LEAST qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stages, if not the Champions League knockouts.
