Third game, third win: FC Barcelona with national team captain Ilkay Gündogan and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen as well as Manchester City are marching towards the round of 16 in the Champions League. Barca won their mandatory game at home 2-1 (2-0) against Shakhtar Donetsk and can now plan for the knockout phase as leaders in Group H with nine points in their account. City won 3-1 (0-0) at Young Boys Bern.
The Citizens initially had a few problems on the artificial turf in the Wankdorf Stadium, but team manager Pep Guardiola was able to rely on his goal guarantor: Erling Haaland first converted a penalty kick (67th) to make the decision and then increased it shortly before the end (86th). The Swiss and former Dortmund player Manuel Akanji (48th) had put his team in the lead.
In Group F with Borussia Dortmund, Paris St. Germain is fully on track after beating AC Milan 3-0 (1-0). Superstar Kylian Mbappe (32nd) put his team in the lead, and former Bundesliga player Randal Kolo Muani, among others, increased the lead in the second half (53rd).
In Group E, Feyenoord Rotterdam celebrated an important victory with a 3-1 (2-0) win against Lazio Rome and took the lead in the table, as Atletico Madrid couldn’t go beyond a 2-2 (1-2) draw at Celtic Glasgow.
FC Barcelona: Gündogan with a decent game
Three days before the Clasico in the league against Real Madrid, Gündogan and Co. were clearly superior to Donetsk without exerting themselves, but things got exciting due to a lack of evaluation of chances. Ferran Torres (28th) and Fermin Lopez (36th) scored for Xavi’s team, Georgij Sudakov (62nd) scored the goal for the Ukrainians.
While Gündogan played well at Barca and opened the scoring, star striker Robert Lewandowski was still missing due to his ankle injury.
With record player Pepe, who at 40 years and 241 days became the oldest outfield player in the history of the Champions League, FC Porto turned the game around at Royal Antwerp. After the 0:1, Porto turned up the heat, won 4:1 (0:1) and, as second in the Barca group, has the best chance of reaching the round of 16.