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Barcelona fans slammed Joao Cancelo for his poor defensive display during their 2-1 home win against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, October 25.
Ferran Torres gave Barcelona the lead in the 28th minute after Fermin Lopez's shot rebounded off the post, falling into the path of the former. Lopez doubled their advantage eight minutes later with a well-taken, powerful strike.
Joao Cancelo looked threatening in attack, testing Dmytro Riznyk on numerous occasions. The Portugal full-back produced an exquisite through-ball in the 59th minute which Torres converted, however, the latter was deemed to be offside.
Despite impressing in offensive positions, Cancelo was guilty of losing possession higher up the pitch three minutes later. Shakhtar launched a devastating counter-attack, with Heorhiy Sudakov finishing well past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Shakhtar nearly leveled the scores in the 79th minute when Cancelo clumsily lost possession to Taras Stepanenko outside the box. Fortunately, for Xavi Hernandez's men, the latter failed to test Ter Stegen.
Barcelona fans criticized Joao Cancelo for his carelessness and failure to track back to perform his defensive duties. The 29-year-old lost seven duels, was dribbled past twice and made zero tackles.
One fan on X (formerly Twitter) posted:
"Cancelo is too casual man , Because of him we conceded a goal and almost conceded a second,doesn't track back when dribbled past...But what he offers in the attack is keeping him there."
Another fan wrote:
"Joao Cancelo's silly and stupid giveaways. Romeu's troubles on ball. Yamine Lamal playing like he is on moon since international break. Felix injured. A whole first teamers injured. Am not watching El Classico."
The Blaugrana are at the top of Group H in the Champions League with nine points from three games.
Barcelona vs Shakhtar Donetsk: Exploring the stats from Champions League clash
Despite having many first-team regulars out due to injury, Barcelona were able to secure a 2-1 win against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League. Let's take a look at the stats to see how both teams performed.
Xavi Hernandez and Co. had more possession with 54% of the ball. They also completed 520 passes with an accuracy of 85%. In contrast, Shakhtar had 46% of the ball and registered 455 passes with an accuracy of 83%.
Barcelona looked the more threatening side with 19 shots in total, landing six on target. On the other hand, Shakhtar had 11 shots in total, with just one being on target.
The Blaugrana will now gear up for El Clasico against Real Madrid at home in La Liga on Saturday, October 28.
