FC Barcelona: Peña, Fort (Cancelo 60′), Koundé, Christensen, Balde, Romeu (Gündogan 60′), Sergi Roberto (Casadó 76′), Fermín (Pedri 60′), Torres, Lewandowski (Guiu 73′), Yamal
Bench: Cancelo, Araujo, Pedri, Gündogan, Felix, Raphinha, Astralaga, Alarcón, Casadó, Kochen, Cubarsí, Garrido and Guiu
Goals: 1-0 Vermeeren (2′), 1-1 Torres (35′), 2-1 Jannsen (56′), 2-2 Guiu (90′), 3-2 Ilenikhena (90′)
Barca visited Royal Antwerp in the last round of the Champions League group stage, where Xavi and his players had previously qualified for the round of 16. Therefore, the Barca coach chose to spare several of the usual regulars from the start.
The match got off to a terrible start for Barca when Peña played a difficult ball out to Romeu, who under pressure sent it into the feet of the home team’s Vermeeren. He thanked the gift by making it 1-0. Barca settled heavily on the game and Antwerp settled back to defend with five men in the back chain. The home team did not seem pressured against Barca’s advantage and they also had the resources for a few conversions, which, however, did not lead to anything.
Barca clearly find it difficult to find holes in the Belgian defensive and at the same time the Catalan game was characterized by wrong decisions. Balde tried to create something and so did Yamal on the opposite side, but nothing came of it. It wasn’t until the 35th minute of the match that Barca managed to create an open opportunity and then, in return, there was also full benefit. It was Yamal who made a sharp pass to the onrushing Torres, who dispatched the ball into the net to make it 1-1.
It started to boil a little between the players of the two teams and it caused a lot of game stoppages. Barca’s play continued to fail and they failed to create any more opportunities before the referee blew the whistle for half-time after a toothless and uninspired effort from Barca, who could not object to the half-time score after a chance-poor first 45 minutes.
In the 49th minute, Antwerp thought they had taken the lead again when Vermeeren took advantage of poor defensive play by Koundé to send the ball into the net, but the goal was disallowed for narrowly offside. Here was the luck with Barca. Two minutes later, Yamal had a huge opportunity in the Belgian box, but his finish bounced off the crossbar. Immediately afterwards there was drama when Sergi Roberto received a straight red card for a hard tackle, but VAR intervened and the referee changed it to a warning. The drama continued, because in the 56th minute the ball was picked from a hesitant Romeu in front of his own field and that gave the chance to Jahnsen, who sent the ball into the net to make it 2-1. Bad action by Oriol Romeu.
Xavi responded by sending Pedri, Cancelo and Gündogan on instead of Fermín, Fort and Romeu. It was Pedri who had the opportunity to equalize in the 66th minute, but the ball was blocked for a corner. Barca pushed the home team back into their own field and the hunt for an equalizer began. However, that didn’t stop Antwerp from trying conversions and after 72 minutes they had a finish close to the goal after a corner kick. Shortly after, Lewandowski and Sergi Roberto were replaced by youngsters Marc Guiu and Casadó.
Barca put everything in and Antwerp were almost besieged in their own field, where it turned into a series of corner kicks that led to nothing. Only in the 86th minute did it come to an end, but the goalkeeper took care of the shot from Koundé. There was congestion in the Belgian field and the crosses or passes that came were rejected by the home team’s defence. When the referee’s extra time had started, Barca were awarded a free kick outside the box. Here Gündogan sent the ball into the box, where Marc Guiu got the highest and headed it into the net to make it 2-2. Just as you thought that Barca had saved a little bit of honor, the Catalan defense completely coked out, so Ilenikhena got completely free and surely made it 3-2. The frustrations shone out of Xavi on the sidelines. Nothing more happened and Barca had to see themselves defeated after another disappointing effort.
