Barcelona ‘get rid of ghosts’ with important Champions League win at Porto
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Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Porto.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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PORTO – Ferran Torres’ strike earned Barcelona a tense 1-0 win at Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday, which coach Xavi Hernandez said “got rid of ghosts” the club had from previous years.
Barcelona have been eliminated in the group stage in the past two editions, but this hard-fought triumph on the road puts them in a strong position as Group H leaders to avoid another early exit.
Xavi said the trip to Portugal would be the hardest group game and his team had to dig deep, surviving a penalty which was cancelled after a VAR (video assistant referee) review and an offside goal in the gripping final stages.
Midfielder Gavi also was sent off in stoppage time as the Catalan side clung on desperately to secure victory.
“We lacked a lot of calm, a lot of patience (but) this is Europe, it’s Porto, it’s away from home. Everything is hard, very hard,” Xavi said after his 100th game as Barca coach.
“If we talk about negatives there are a lot, but if we talk about positives there are a lot too. We came from having ‘ghosts’, but now we’ve got rid of them. We were able to win away from home against a historic team.”
The five-time champions last won the competition in 2015, with the years since littered with struggle and failure.
Xavi selected youngster Lamine Yamal on the right wing, making him the youngest starter in Champions League history at 16 years and 83 days.
The teenager showed some bright sparks in the first half but largely Porto were on top, cutting through a Barcelona midfield missing the injured Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scores the only goal of the match.
PHOTO: REUTERS
At the other end, Joao Felix was involved in Barcelona’s best attacking moments, to a cacophony of whistles from Porto fans who had not forgotten his Benfica past.
A lapse in concentration by Porto midfielder Romario Baro just before half-time proved costly for his side.
His under-hit pass was easily stolen by Ilkay Gundogan, who threaded the ball through to Torres.
The Spanish forward, who replaced injured hitman Robert Lewandowski earlier in the first half, rolled home a low strike under goalkeeper Diogo Costa that turned out to be the winning goal in the end.
Porto’s Galeno (left) in action against Barcelona’s Joao Cancelo (right).
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
“We had been talking about it. This match was worth half of the qualification,” Torres told Movistar.
“It was a win that we had to get however we can, and we showed that we are good with the ball but we know how to suffer without it too.
“Football is about taking advantage of the opposition’s mistakes – they put us under a lot of high pressure.
“The important thing in the end is the three points.” AFP
