Winning Record In Champions League, Barcelona Is One Step Closer To Knockout Stage

JAKARTA - Barcelona maintained a 100% winning record when they beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in the Champions League Group H match at the Olympic Stadium, Thursday, October 26 early morning WIB. The victory made Barca re-elected to qualify for the knockout rounds.

Barca is unstoppable. Even though they did not field the best squad due to the absence of several pillar players, Barca was able to show the best performance in matches in European competitions.

In that match, Barca was without striker Robert Lewandowski who had not yet recovered from injury. Apart from that, Raphinha, Sergi Roberto, Frenkie De Jong, Jules Kounde and Pedri are still unable to play.

Meanwhile, midfielder Gavi is absent because he is suspended after receiving a red card against Porto. Coach Xavi Hernandez also called up no less than seven players from the club's academy, including Fermin Lopez, to complete the squad.

Likewise, Marc Guiu, who will strengthen the Spanish U-17 national team at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia, remains in the squad. Only he started the match by sitting on the bench.

Even though he lost several pillar players, Xavi still made changes to the starting line up. The reason is that just three days after facing Shakhtar in the Champions League, they faced arch rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico in the Spanish La Liga competition.

Xavi also fielded Ronald Araujo and Marcos Alonso as starters replacing Andreas Christensen and Alejandro Balde. Meanwhile, Lamine Yamal took over Gavi's position, who was absent from the suspension arena.

Barca really appears with a new face. However, the results did not disappoint. Barca's offensive game was able to suppress Shakhtar's defense.

Fermin Lopez, who made his debut in the Champions League match, showed his best ability in midfield and in attack. He even provided an assist when Ferran Torres opened the Blaugrana's victory in the 28th minute.

The referee disallowed the goal because he was judged to be offside before giving a pass to Torres. However, after reviewing via VAR, referee Ivan Kruzliak confirmed he was onside and Torres' goal was declared valid.

Lopez was a real problem for Shakhtar's defense. He repeatedly threatened the visiting team's goal.

Until finally, Lopez made no mistake when he welcomed Torres' assist to break into Shakhtar's goal in the 36th minute.

This was the first goal for this 20 year old player. The score became 2-0 for Barca and closed the first half.

In the second half, Barca played attacking again and had several opportunities. Lopez even came close to adding a goal twice but he failed because his shot hit the goal post.

Furthermore, two goals were also disallowed because they were declared offside. The referee reviewed the two goals via VAR before annulling them.

Barca failed to add goals. On the other hand, Shakhtar managed to reduce the deficit when midfielder Georgiy Sudakov found the net against Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 62nd minute. The score changed to 2-1 for Barca and lasted until the end of the match.

These results mean that Barca has scored a 100% winning record in the Champions League. They confirmed their position at the top of the standings with nine points from three matches.

Barca is one step away from qualifying for the knockout rounds. Meanwhile, Shakhtar is in third place with three points.