The goal scored by Ferran Torres gave Barcelona a nerve-wracking 1-0 victory away at Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday. After the game, coach Xavi Hernandez said that the victory “got rid of ghosts” the team had from past seasons.
The goal scored by Ferran Torres gave Barcelona a nerve-wracking 1-0 victory away at Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday. After the game, coach Xavi Hernandez said that the victory “got rid of ghosts” the team had from past seasons.
This hard-fought victory on the road puts Barcelona in a great position as the leaders of Group H to avoid being ousted in the opening round for a third consecutive tournament. In the previous two tournaments, Barcelona was eliminated in the opening stage and did not advance.
Xavi said that the game in the north of Portugal would be the most difficult of the group, and he was right. His squad had to dig deep in order to prevail, and they did it by overcoming a penalty kick that was overturned by the video assistant referee and an offside goal in the tense closing seconds.
Gavi, a midfielder for Barcelona, received a second yellow card in the dying seconds of the game, which led to his dismissal as the Catalans frantically clutched on to victory.
“We lacked a lot of calm, a lot of patience (but) this is Europe, it’s Porto, it’s away from home, everything is hard, very hard,” Xavi told reporters after his 100th game as Barca’s coach. This game was Xavi’s milestone 100th victory as Barca’s head coach.
“If we speak about the downsides, there are a lot of them; yet, if we talk about the positives, there are a lot of them as well.
“We used to have ‘ghosts,’ but now we don’t; we managed to get rid of them. We were able to come away victorious while playing away from home against a legendary squad.
Champions five times over The last time Barcelona won the tournament was in 2015, and in the years after then, the club has seen nothing but hardship and defeat on the continent.
Lamine Yamal, who is 16 years old and 83 days old, was given the starting position on the right flank by Xavi, making him the youngest player in the history of the Champions League.
The youngster had some flashes of brilliance in the first half, but Porto were mainly in control, and they were able to cut through a Barcelona midfield that was without Pedri and Frenkie de Jong due to injury.
Oriol Romeu, a holding midfielder for Barcelona, had a difficult night due to the constant pressure applied by Porto, who were cheered on by a boisterous crowd inside of the Dragao stadium.
The player who had previously played for Southampton and Chelsea was brought in from Girona to take over for Sergio Busquets and is having trouble adjusting to his new role as a result.
It was a stroke of good fortune that he was spared a yellow card in the first half, but his teammates Joao Cancelo, Ronald Araujo, and Gavi, in addition to their coach Xavi, were all sent yellow cards.
Mehdi Taremi made an early plea for a penalty when Jules Kounde grabbed a hold of his shirt while they were both within the penalty area, but the call was not warranted.
Joao Felix was engaged in several of Barcelona’s greatest offensive moments, which resulted in a chorus of boos from Porto supporters who had not forgotten his time with Benfica. At the other end, Porto fans cheered for their team.
The previous week, the Eagles prevailed against Porto in the Portuguese Clasico, which, according to Felix, will only serve to inspire his former opponents even more.
However, soon before halftime, Porto midfielder Romario Baro lost focus, which proved to be a costly mistake for his team, who had more than held their own up until that point.
inexcusable blunder
Ilkay Gundogan was able to easily steal Romario’s pass since it was under-hit, and he did it by going through Torres.
The Spanish striker, who came in earlier in the first half to replace an injured hitman named Robert Lewandowski, put in a low shot that went in under the diving Diogo Costa.
At a time when Barcelona was doing all they could to hold Porto at bay, Jules Kounde produced an outstanding tackle, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen thwarted Galeno’s attempts to score twice.
As Barca’s troubles continued to build, Ronald Araujo was suffering from cramps, and Yamal had to be carried off the pitch due to gastrointestinal issues.
Referee Anthony Taylor gave Porto a penalty kick with ten minutes left to play when Cancelo touched the ball within the penalty area, but the decision was overturned by the Video Assistant Referee due to an earlier handball committed by Stephen Eustaquio.
Taremi next scored a wonderful overhead kick, but he was offside when he met winger Pepe’s audacious scooped ball. Despite Gavi’s late departure, Barcelona was able to cling on for the three points and win the game.
“We had been talking about it, and this match was worth half of the qualification,” Torres said in an interview with Movistar.
“It was a win that we had to get any way we could, and we showed that while we are good with the ball, we also know how to suffer without it. It was a win that we had to get.”
“Taking advantage of the mistakes that the other team makes is the name of the game in football. They put a lot of pressure on us.” The three things are the most significant thing to take away from this.”