Barcelona failed to guarantee mathematical qualification to the Champions League knockout stages and suffered their first loss in Europe this season thanks to a 1-0 defeat away to Shakhtar Donetsk in Hamburg, Germany on Tuesday evening’s early kickoff. The Blaugrana played a pathetic match and struggled to create all night, with only one shot on target against a Shakhtar team that fought with everything they had and deservedly picked up three huge points to stay alive in Group H.
FIRST HALF
The opening period was a seriously tough watch. The intensity and desire from both teams was there, but the quality was seriously lacking thanks in part to the horrible state of the playing surface and in part to a very imprecise Barça team that had most of the possession but struggled to complete passes in the final third and couldn’t create a single meaningful chance in the entire half.