There were cries of “Barça, Barça” in Hamburg that 90 minutes later transformed into cries of “Shakhtar, Shakhtar”, so similar and perfectly distinguishable, and whose metamorphosis occurred as Barça and Shakhtar did on the pitch. The neutral ground of Hamburg ended up taking sides, and the Barça team lost a great opportunity to gain followers with football, with the game, with the results, which is the basis of its nature, more than the games it spreads on social networks. .
Barça made a fool of itself for not correcting itself from the bad game in San Sebastián, for obtaining a worse result losing against an inferior opponent than the one on Saturday and for wasting a great opportunity to seal a place in the round of 16 and dedicate itself to something else butterfly . European classification is not in danger in the Champions League, but the defeat forces additional doses of effort and success against Porto, the next rival, or later in Antwerp.
Xavi came to say with the four substitutions that he considered it unacceptable to be losing to Shakhtar.
Four changes at once
Nothing happens and it happens a lot after the Barça performance. Barça went from bad to worse in its transition from the League to the Champions League. He went from playing badly and winning to playing badly and losing, The result was that he invited Xavi to be more stark in his assessment of the match, just as drastic he was in trying to manage the team when he got rid of his nerves.
With four changes at a time, the coach wanted to show that losing to Shakhtar was unacceptable, using the same words that he used in Anoeta. Worse. Intolerable even because the repetition of the error nullified the purpose of amendment that everyone had. From the coach to the players.
Barça was overcome by insecurity at the first setback of the match after having lost the classic and being overtaken by Real.
Ephemeral startup effect
He had made five replacements in the Anoeta lineup that, halfway between the rotation to oxygenate the team during the week and the need to excite a reaction, agitated Barça at the beginning, but it was a short-lived effect. The team became lethargic, unable to maintain confidence after the first setback of the day. As simple as Shakhtar finishing earlier through Matviyenko, the left back, who ran the entire band escaping from Raphinha and beating Cancelo until shooting at Ter Stegen’s body.
How could it be? Due to the poor functioning of the first line of pressure, which Shakhtar easily surpassed until creating one-on-one situations in the Barça defense. They did not have any major repercussions thanks to Araujo, a wonderful corrector of a team that was easily misplaced.
Goalkeeper Riznyk took a hit from Lewandowski when he tried to dribble past the forward. The only moment in which the scorer was seen: he left without finishing.
Radical in possession
The Ukrainian team taught game guidelines very marked by their new coach, Marino Pusic, radical in his desire to advance with passes, without raffle a single ball, steeped in the Dutch school, where he has spent half his life. The terrible execution of the Barça press allowed Shakhtar to operate from when Riznyk, the goalkeeper, put the ball into play. He took a hit from Lewandowski in the first minute when he tried to dribble past the forward. The only moment in which the team’s scorer was seen, without finishing in the first half.
It was not daring or recklessness, and if it was, they could afford it, with nothing to lose against Barça and in the middle of a learning period. That freshness contrasted with the management of the Blaugranas, without spark or imagination and some purely official decisions with the ball, dictated, by an insecure team after losing the classic, being reviewed by Real and the audacity of Shakhtar.
Shakhar’s goal was the culmination of a patient and beautiful collective construction.
Continuing Defects
Two basic, vulgar centers, one from each side of Marcos and Raphinha, contrasted with the patient (more than a minute) and beautiful collective construction of Sikan’s goal, which began with a low change of orientation from Sudakov towards Gocholeishvili (from inside left to right side), ball that slipped between Gündogan and Marcos, as contemplative as Christiansen’s apathy after losing the Sikan brand knowing himself to be Ter Stegen’s only guardian.
The defects of the first half were not canceled out in the second. Shakhtar continued to do their thing – they finished first again, twice to Ter Stegen’s body– and the greater risks that Barça took led to the game being concentrated in the Ukrainian half. But without imagination or ideas or a worked structure observed. The lack of evolution in the team, the most worrying.
Data sheet
Shakhtar: Riznyk (7); Gocholeishvili (9), Bondar (6), Rakitskyy (7), Matviyenko (8); Stepanenko (6); Zubkov (6), Kryskiv (5), Sudakov (7), Newerton (6); Sikan (8).
Coach: Marino Pusic (8).
Changes: Kelsy (4) for Sikan (d. 62); Nazaryna (5) by Stepanenko (d. 73); Shved (sc) by Newerton (d. 98).
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (8); Cancelo (5), Araujo (8), Christensen (4), Marcos (4); Gavi (6), Romeu (5), Gündogan (5); Raphinha (4), Lewandowski (4), Ferran (4).
Coach: Xavi Hernández (4).
Changes: Bucket (6) for Marcos (d. 59); Pedri (5) for Romeu (d. 59); Lamine Yamal (5) by Raphinha (d. 59); João Félix (4) for Ferran (d. 59); Fermín (sc) by Gavi (d. 80).
Goals: 1-0 (m. 40), Sikan.
Referee: Irfan Peljto (6), Bosnian.
Cards: Araujo, Newerton.
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Stadium: Volksparkstadion (Hamburg).
Spectators: 49,147.