Marino Pusic cannot perform stunts against Barcelona on his second working day as coach Shakhtar | Foreign football

Pusic was Arne Slot’s assistant at Feyenoord until Tuesday, but got the offer to succeed Dutchman Patrick van Leeuwen as head coach of Shakhtar. “I have been working with him since the first day I became head coach. Since then, not a day has gone by that I have not felt his support and loyalty,” Slot said during the press conference on Tuesday about his bond with Pusic.

On Wednesday, the Croat was immediately allowed to stand on his own two feet for a match against FC Barcelona, ​​where Frenkie de Jong is still absent due to an ankle injury. Without the Dutch midfielder, Barça took a 1-0 lead after 28 minutes through Ferran Torres, whose goal was initially disallowed. According to the linesman, Fermin Lopez was offside when he was played and then hit the crossbar, but the video referee intervened and saw that it was not offside. As a result, Torres’ rebound was valid.

Eight minutes later it was Lopez who made it 2-0 with a hard shot. Barcelona had many opportunities to increase their lead, but it was Shakhtar who made it 2-1 through Georgiy Sudakov. The first shot on target from Pusic’s team was a direct hit. In the seventieth minute, Barcelona thought they could bring the margin back to two, but Lopez’s headed goal was disallowed. The score remained 2-1.

The victory puts Barcelona firmly in the lead in Group H. Xavi’s team leads with 9 points from three games. Shakhtar is stuck at 3 points. The club from Ukraine won 2-3 against Royal Antwerp three weeks ago.