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Hamburg: Barcelona missed their chance to reach the knockout rounds of the Champions League with games to spare after a 1-0 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).
It was Shakhtar’s first win as a host in the group stage of the competition since they started playing away from Ukraine because of the war with Russia.
A draw would have been enough to secure Barcelona a spot in the round of 16 after two straight eliminations in the group stage of Europe’s top club competition.
The result ended Barcelona’s perfect Champions League record this season and moved Shakhtar into position to also advance from Group H.
Barcelona have nine points from their first four matches, three more than both Shakhtar and Porto, who host winless Antwerp in the other group match later Tuesday.
“It’s a tough loss,” Barcelona midfielder Oriol Romeu said. “We wanted to come here and secure our qualification but it wasn’t possible. We have to try to rebound as quickly as we can.”
Novatus Miroshi and Dmytro Riznyk celebrate in Hamburg.Credit: Getty
Danylo Sikan scored the winner with a header in the 40th minute in the game that Shakhtar hosted in Germany, because of the war.
The Ukrainian team lost 3-1 to Porto in their first home game in the Champions League this season. They played home games in Poland last season, without winning any of them.
Shakhtar are making their seventh consecutive group-stage appearance but failed to reach the knockout rounds in the last five seasons. They had won only three of their last 20 matches in European competitions, including at Antwerp this month.
Barcelona had lost only once this season — to Real Madrid in the Spanish league Clasico last month. They had no attempts on target through the first hour in Hamburg, and only one the entire match.
Barcelona have played poorly recently, losing two of their last three matches in all competitions. Marc-Andre ter Stegen made two saves early in the second half to keep the Catalans in the match.
“It’s one of our worst matches that I recall in recent years,” Barcelona coach Xavi said. “We are not going through a good moment, we have to recognise that. It’s a mental thing. But we still depend on our own results and we can qualify at home against Porto in the next round.”
In Tuesday’s other early kick-off, Borussia Dortmund scored once in each half to beat Newcastle 2-0 and provisionally take the lead in Group F with two games remaining.
Germany forward Niclas Fuellkrug drilled in from close range in the 26th minute for his first goal in the competition and Julian Brandt added another on the break in the 79th to kill off the game and dent Newcastle’s chances of a top-two finish.
Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel looks on as fake money is thrown onto the pitch during the win over Newcastle.Credit: Getty
The hosts looked in control throughout, with the match briefly interrupted in the second half by fans throwing fake gold bars onto the pitch in protest at European governing body UEFA’s planned competition reforms.
Newcastle, looking more aggressive in the second half, missed a golden chance to level through Joelinton’s close range header in the 56th minute.
Dortmund, who have now beaten the Premier League club in both their group matches, are top on seven points. Newcastle, who were missing injured key players including Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Harvey Barnes and Elliot Anderson, have four.
AP/Reuters
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