Barcelona 2-1 Porto: Joao Felix nets second-half winner as Catalan giants come from behind to book their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League
- Porto went in front through Brazil’s Pepe before Joao Cancelo equalised
- Joao Felix scored the winning goal in the second half for the hosts
- Was Garnacho’s overhead kick REALLY the greatest ever? Listen to the debate on It’s All Kicking Off
Barcelona qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time in three years with a 2-1 win over Porto courtesy of their Portuguese pair Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.
The City loanee was particularly brilliantly scoring a stunning first and creating the second for his compatriot as Barça came back from an awful start.
The result eases the pressure on Xavi who can point to his team selection – playing the Joao’s together on the left as a big reason for the victory.
But this was far from a convincing performance from Barcelona with some horrible defending hidden behind an impressive display from their stand-in keeper Inaki Pena.
With almost their first attack Porto could have taken the lead when Mehdi Taremi nipped in behind Ronald Araujo to score from close range only to be flagged offside.
Joao Felix scored the second goal as Barcelona came from behind to beat Porto
Joao Cancelo celebrates bringing Barcelona level in the 32nd minute of the match
The Portuguese pair starred as they took Barcelona through to the last 16
Your browser does not support iframes.
It was an illustration of how Porto were on top. Barcelona’s puzzling inability to play out from the back was encouraging their visitors. Jules Kounde was guilty of giving the ball away and Frenkie de Jong was trying to drop deep and build but he was also struggling such was the lack of options ahead of him.
Porto’s next chance was on side but Pena made the save from Francisco Evanilson. And it was at the third time of asking that Porto scored. Pena parried the shot from Wanderson Galeno and Pepe Aquino fired the ball into the far corner.
MATCH FACTS & PLAYER RATINGS
BARCELONA: Pena 8; Araujo 7, Kounde 4, Iñigo 6, Cancelo 9; (Balde (81); Pedri 6, Gündogan 6, De Jong 6; Raphinha 6 (Lamine Yamal 90), Lewandowski 5, Joao Felix 8 (Ferran (75)
Goals: Cancelo, Felix
Manager: Xavi
FC PORTO: Diogo Costa 6; Joao Mario 6 (Jorge Sanchez (67), Fabio Cardoso 6 (Namaso (90), Pepe 6, Zaidu 6; Pepe 7, Varela 7, Eustaquio 6 (Nico (81), Galeno 7 (Martínez (90); Taremi 7, Evanilson 7 (Conceicao (81)
Goal: Pepe
Manager: Sergio Conceicao
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy) 8
Devoid of any convincing team play this Barcelona are now completely reliant on individual brilliance and Cancelo provided some to get them level. Pedri played the ball out to him on the left and he cut in to the area hammering a right foot shot past Diogo Costa.
He celebrated with rage, his coach Xavi was too busy talking to Araujo on the touchline. The defence was a mess and Araujo – playing right back instead of the middle – was being told by his manager how to put things right. It’s another mystery why Barça’s best defender isn’t at the heart of the defence.
Before the break Pena saved again this time from Alan Varela. It was his third big save of the half – Barcelona’s keeper should not be their best player in a Champions League group game at home but that was the story of the first period.
Barcelona started the second half well with Joao Felix cracking a shot on to the crossbar, and another wide inside the first two minutes. But there was no improvement at the other end with Kounde giving another ball away playing out from the back. Another Porto break threatened Pena’s goal but Araujo slid-in to salvage the situation.
Brazilian midfielder Pepe had given Porto a shock lead in Tuesday’s game
Barcelona boss Xavi will be a relieved man as his side progressed to the last 16
The winner came on just before the hour mark and it was the Portuguese who did for Porto. Joao Felix played the ball out to Cancelo and when the left back crossed low back to his compatriot he slid the ball home to score his first goal in 12 games and put Xavi’s team ahead.
It might have been three when Cancelo played the pass of the night in behind Porto’s defence to send Joao Felix away. In front of watching Roberto Martinez both were shining but the move fizzled out when the ball reached the below par Robert Lewandowski.
There were more fun and games around the Barcelona six-yard box after another Kounde error but Ilkay Gundogan nodded the ball back to his keeper as it pin-balled around the area.
By now Xavi had taken off Joao Felix and soon Cancelo joining limping off to a huge ovation. They had sent Barcelona through with arguably their best performances for the club, and in the season’s most important game so far.
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.
It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.
Your browser does not support iframes.
Source: Read Full Article
