Cancelo, Felix take Barca into Champions League round of 16

Spain Portuguese duo Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix scored to help Barca beat Porto 2-1 in the fifth round of Group H to secure a ticket to the Champions League round of 16 with one round early.

In the other match, Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Royal Antwerp 1-0 thanks to center-back Mykola Matviyenko. With these results, Barca tops Group H with 12 points, Shakhtar and Porto have nine points each, while Antwerp has no points.

Barca are certain to advance as Shakhtar and Porto will face each other in the final round. The Catalan club only needs a point at Antwerp on December 13 to finish top of the group.

Kounde (23), Felix (14) celebrate with Cancelo (number 2) after Barca equalized 1-1 in the 2-1 win over Porto in the fifth round of Group H of the Champions League at the Olympic Stadium, Barcelona on November 28. Photo: AS

Thanks to that, coach Xavi brought Barca through the Champions League group stage for the first time. In the 2021-2022 season, Barca finished third in the group stage and had to play in the Europa League - where they lost 3-4 on aggregate to Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals. A similar scenario happened last season, when Barca continued to finish third in the group stage, then lost 3-4 to Man Utd in the Europa League play-off.

At Olympic - Barca's home ground this season when Camp Nou was renovated - on November 28, Barca continued their habit of starting slowly when Porto took the lead in the 30th minute. Mehdi Taremi and Wenderson Galeno continuously failed to finish, but the ball bounced right into the right range for 26-year-old Brazilian winger Pepe to score a cross into the near corner to break the deadlock.

Pepe opened the scoring for Porto in the 30th minute. Photo: AFP — Pepe opened the scoring for Porto in the 30th minute. Photo: *AFP*

For the fourth time in a row, Barca have conceded first in all competitions. In their previous three games, the Catalan club drew 1-1 with Rayo Vallecano, beat Alaves 2-1 in La Liga and lost 0-1 to Shakhtar in the Champions League.

But yesterday, Xavi and his team overcame the difficulties successfully, when the duo of players who were loaned in the summer of 2023 shone. In the 32nd minute, Pedri opened the ball to the left wing for Cancelo. The Portuguese defender dribbled past Joao Mario, entered the penalty area and then curled the ball into the far corner to beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa. Cancelo scored his third goal in 16 matches in all competitions this season, equaling his best personal record in a season when playing for clubs in the top five European leagues.

Cancelo curled the ball to equalize 1-1 for Barca. Photo: AS

In the 57th minute, Cancelo continued to shine with a cross for Felix to cross into the near corner to complete the comeback for Barca. Felix scored his third goal in five Champions League group stage matches this season, equaling his personal best in a season - three goals for Atletico in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. Before that, he scored twice in the opening match, a 5-0 win over Antwerp in early September.

Cancelo and Felix both joined Barca at the end of the 2023 summer transfer window, on loan without a buyout clause. However, Xavi and the Barca board have repeatedly made it public that they want to keep the Portuguese star duo.

Felix (right) connected, sealing a 2-1 victory for Barca. Photo: AS

On December 3, Barca continues to have another difficult match at the Olympic Stadium when hosting Atletico Madrid in round 15 of La Liga.

Line-up :

Barca : Pena, Martinez, Kounde, Cancelo (Balde 82), Araujo, Gundogan, De Jong, Pedri, Lewandowski, Felix (Torres 75), Raphinha (Yamal 90).

Porto : Diogo Costa, Pepe, Cardoso (Namaso 90), Sanusi, Mario (Sanchez 67), Varela, Eustaquio (Gonzalez 80), Galeno (Martinez 90), Pepe, Taremi, Evanilson (Conceicao 80).

Hong Duy

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