Five-time European Champion Barcelona have added their third straight win in the Champions League as they secured a 2-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Wednesday. The victory has allowed Barca to cement their place at the top of the Group H rankings with 9 points, ahead of second-placed Porto.
Barcelona’s performance this season has improved massively and they are now comfortably placed to make it to the knockout stages of the Champions League, having failed to make it past the group stages in the last two editions of the league.
Ferran Torres and Fermín López scored first-half goals as Barca took an early lead in the game. Torres first set the goal-scoring platform when he got the opening goal of the match in the 28th minute, lashing a rebound home from short range after Lopez’s effort cannoned off the post.
Lopez, who came inches close to scoring the first goal that otherwise Torres converted, soon joined the party as he fired in the second goal for the side in the 36th minute collecting Joao Cancelo’s pass in stride before pinging a shot in off the post from 20 yards out to give Barcelona a comfortable 2-0 lead within the first half of the match. He nearly had a second goal to his name shortly after, but his blazing curled shot rattled the woodwork.
Shakhtar was finally able to narrow the gap in the second half when Heorhiy Sudakov scored the first goal for his side. Azarovi played the ball round the corner to Sudakov who lashed the ball home with his right foot to make the score 2-1. This, however, was the best Shakhtar could do as Barcelona resolutely defended throughout the remainder of the match to ensure the score remained as it was. In the end, it was Barcelona who walked off with a convincing 2-1 victory, their third one in a row!
Shakhtar did display promising signs of a fightback in the second half, but it was clearly not enough as Barcelona maintained the major possession of the ball (54%) and also managed to get more shots at the target (6) than their opponents.
Barcelona is comfortably seated at the top spot, three more points than second-place Porto, who won 4-1 at Antwerp thanks to a second-half hat trick from substitute Evanilson, while Shakhtar has lost one game and lost one, beating Antwerp last time out.
It will now be interesting to see how the upcoming encounters affect the current picture and which two teams make it to the knockout stages.
