Effective is the word to describe Barcelona's performance against Shakhtar Donetsk. The Catalans fulfilled expectations and maintained a 100 percent record in the group stage of the Champions League.
They beat Shakhtar Donetsk and warmed up for an El Clasico where the eleven, as of today, is up in the air. In Xavi's head there is a mix of names with the doubts of Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and in the midst of this puzzle appears Fermin Lopez, who has a claim as good as anyone else to be in the XI against Real Madrid.
The home-grown player was surely the best against Shakhtar, having discarded the experiment against Athletic Club by using him as a false nine. He returned to his position in midfield and there he shone as never before, his late arrival to the box is lethal and thus he burst the goal to give Barcelona a 2-0 lead just as Shakhtar threatened to get back into the game.
He did almost everything against the Ukrainians and almost everything well as he ran the show. His offensive output was scandalous, but in a good way despite a goal disallowed, and he looked good for next Saturday's starting XI in the Clasico against Real Madrid.
Inigo Martínez, who had another good game, is also in the running and Oriol Romeu, who was in the photo of the Shakhtar goal and continues to surround his figure in this side with doubts, was almost ruled out. Xavi has a wide range of options and with the treatment table at full capacity, Joao Felix could have been added at the last minute, but the Portuguese player's injury was just a mere scare.
Ferran strikes again
With the absence of Lewandowski, Ferran Torres had to play as the main striker and again, as usual this season, he found the net to continue his purple patch in this side. His second in Champions League, the fifth so far this season. He's like a shark and continues to smell blood in the penalty area.
Fermin has a cannon
The player produced his side's second goal against Shakhtar with a strike that is already a trademark of his skillset. He hit a thunderbolt with his right-foot that hit the post before ending up in the Ukrainian goal. He returned to his more natural position in midfield and did not disappoint, being one of the most outstanding players in Xavi's team.
Barcelona should qualify for the Round of 16 bar a disaster
With nine points out of a possible nine and with the victory in Porto, the most difficult match of the group, Barcelona can practically consider their presence in the Round of 16 safe. After two consecutive seasons group stage eliminations, Xavi's team will finally return to the place they should never have left - and if they do it as first place, even better.
Worry for Joao Felix
The Portuguese player withdrew with muscular problems midway through the second half and has played almost everything in the month of October. Perhaps Xavi should have given him a well-deserved rest when Barcelona seemed to have closed the game with a 2-0 lead.
Although it seems that everything has remained a simple scare, Xavi took an unnecessary risk keeping the Portuguese youngster on the field for so long with El Clasico just around the corner.
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