FC Barcelona Vs. Shakhtar Donetsk, 2011 UEFA Champions League: Barcelona Cruise To 5-1 Win

Barcelona more or less booked a place in the Champions League semi-finals with a 5-1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Camp Nou. Although the Ukrainians have a chance to turn the fixture around at home, beating the Catalans by four goals without conceding is probably beyond them, we so can probably pencil in a Classico in the next round as Barcelona look set to clash with Real Madrid following their arch-rivals’ 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.

Andres Iniesta gave the hosts the perfect start with a fortunate goal scored three minutes into the match, but Shakhtar played well throughout the first half and gave Barcelona plenty to think about. Indeed, at one point most of the clear-cut chances had gone the visitors’ way, but Luiz Adriano was routinely making a meal of his opportunities and eventually the swashbuckling figure of Dani Alves made it 2-0, controlling a lofted pass from Iniesta and easing the ball past goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.

2-0 down at half time, Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu surely simply wanted to get an away goal and escape, but his side were pressing too hard and allowing the defence to get out of position. They got the goal they wanted, but not before Gerard Pique had made the score 3-0, and when they did net through Yaroslav Rakitskiy Seydou Keita immediately pulled one back. Xavi Hernandez’s goal, the Catalans’ fifth, rounded off the night.

It was an impressive display from Barcelona’s attacking players but a potentially worrisome one for the defenders. But for ridiculously poor finishing from Luiz Adriano, who hit the post in the second half when the score was still 4-1 in addition to missing a host of first-half chances, the score would have been much closer, and a team like Barcelona really should not have had that many close calls in a match like that.

They’ll take the result, though. About the only blemish on Pep Guardiola’s day was the booking Andres Iniesta picked up just before the Rakitskiy goal, ruling the World Cup winner out of the return leg in Donetsk. Not that there’s much to play for there, mind.