‘The Joãos’ return to take Barça to the round of 16
The ‘culers’ come back against Porto with goals from Cancelo and Félix
BARCELONA, 28 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
This Tuesday, FC Barcelona qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League by beating Porto (2-1) at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, on the fifth day of the group stage of the Champions League. in a duel in which they overcame the initial 0-1 thanks to ‘the Joãos’, who reemerged from recent ostracism to be key in the immediate future of their team in Europe.
Out with fears, out with ghosts of the past. Goodbye to falling in the group stage. After two seasons of continental failure, Barça will at least be in the draw for the round of 16 and, furthermore, with many numbers to be leaders of this Group H than Shakhtar Donetsk, with their victories against Barça (in the last day) and Antwerp, is in charge of tightening.
From less to more, stretching and cheering up as the minutes passed, Barça reacted immediately to the 0-1 blow and, in a second half where they approached the minimum required in terms of play (eye-catching and effective), they were able to finish the comeback with a specific weight of two Portuguese, former Benfica players (Porto’s great rival); ‘the Joãos’.
It was not a brilliant match nor one of those that will make us forget recent complaints about poor play. Not at all. But it was one of those matches that must be done, in which the objective is achieved and a better attitude is seen from a good part of the players, who delivered and with good marks, at least, in the second half of the match.
Faced with this ‘final’ for the lead, although Porto will have to draw against Shakhtar on the last day to stay alive, both teams came out to see them coming, to try to know what attitude the rival would take on the pitch. And it was Barça that got closer and earlier to the opposing goal, but the truth is that the 1-1 at half-time could well have been a worse result, if it weren’t for a spectacular Iñaki Peña.
The youth goalkeeper, who replaced – as in the 1-1 draw against Rayo last weekend in LaLiga – the injured Marc-André Ter Stegen, was key. He had several decisive saves, especially in the first half but also in stoppage time with a firm stop on a centered, innocent shot by Francisco Conceição (son of the coach, Sérgio Conceição.
But it was ‘the Joãos’ who decided in favor of Barça. They decided the match with a spectacular Cancelo as a left-back, in his least usual position, with attacks full of danger that included the tying goal, in the 32nd minute and just 2′ after Pepê’s initial goal for Porto, and an assist of victory to his compatriot João Félix, who finished first to end a drought that has been in effect since the beginning of September.
They had to suffer, in Can Barça, for a change in recent times. If they say that ‘third time’s the charm’, Barça risked too much by tempting fate. After the goal disallowed against Porto at 0-0 and a save by Iñaki Peña, a triple play from Porto came after half an hour of play. The first shot was deflected by Jules Koundé, the second was blocked by Peña – again key – but the third fell to Pepê to score at will.
But Barça did not have time to break down emotionally because João Cancelo gave the team air immediately, just two minutes after conceding the 0-1 lead. Tonight the left-footed winger received a ball, faced João Mário and went inside to place the shot at Diogo Costa’s long post, who narrowly missed avoiding Barça’s electric tie.
Xavi Hernández’s men, very active on the wing, had the score 2-1 but João Félix failed, this time, to put in a great assist from Raphinha from the right that was half a goal. He did not treat the Portuguese body well and sent her to the sky of Montjuïc. Shortly after, it was Raphinha who forgave the 1-2 score by shooting wide after receiving an involuntary rebound from the Porto defense.
The Terrassa coach’s talk in the locker room, or the players’ own harangue, was effective because Barça improved a lot in the second half. And, in one of the plays in the opposite field, in the 57th minute, the goal of ‘the Joãos’ came thanks to a wall on the left wing of the Blaugrana attack, with a pass from João Félix to João Cancelo and he returned it to him for that the forward, first and with the inside of his right foot, scored 2-1 to reserve the ticket to the round of 16 for Barça. So much so that in the end it was decisive.
As at the Estádio do Dragão, Porto did not give up and looked for the tying goal that would put them closer to qualifying for the round of 16, which they do not have. In a carom play they came close to tying, but it is true that Barça did not go back and did not speculate and they also had several clear chances to score a 3-1 that did not come, sometimes due to lack of a good final pass and other times. , as in a spectacular Chilean by Raphinha that Diogo Costa took with great reflexes.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: FC BARCELONA, 2 – PORTO, 1 (1-1, at halftime).
–EQUIPMENT.
FC BARCELONA: Iñaki Peña; Araujo, Koundé, Inigo Martinez; Raphinha (Lamine Yamal, min.90), Pedri, De Jong, Gündogan, Cancelo (Bucket, min.82); Lewandowski and John Felix (Ferran Torres, min.75).
OPORTO: Diogo Costa; João Mário (Jorge Sánchez, min.67), Cardoso (Namaso, min.90), Pepe, Zaidu; Pepê, Varela, Eustáquio (Nico González, min.80), Galeno (Toni Martínez, min.90); Taremi and Evanilson (Conceição, min.80).
–GOALS.
0-1. Min.30, Pepe.
1-1. Min.32, Cancel.
2-1. Min.57, João Félix.
–REFEREE: Daniele Orsato (ITA). He loved De Jong (min.37), João Félix (min.59) at FC Barcelona and Fábio Cardoso (min.36), João Mário (min.57), Pepê (min.74) at Oporto.
–STADIUM: Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, 43,533 spectators.