The Portuguese duo scored together to help Barca beat Porto 2-1 in round five of Group H to win a ticket to the 1/8 round one early in the Champions League.

In the other match, Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Royal Antwerp 1-0 thanks to midfielder Mykola Matviyenko. With these results, Barca tops Group H with 12 points, Shakhtar and Porto both have nine points, and Antwerp has no points.

Barca is sure to advance because Shakhtar and Porto will face off directly in the final round. The Catalan club also only needs one point at Antwerp on December 13 to finish at the top of the table.

This is the first time Coach Xavi has brought Barca past the Champions League group stage. In the 2021-2022 season, the home team at Camp Nou ranked third in the group stage and had to drop to the Europa League – where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt with a total score of 3-4 in the quarterfinals. A similar scenario took place last season, when Barca continued to finish third in the group stage, then lost 3-4 to Man Utd in the Europa League play-offs.

At Olympic – Barca’s home ground this season when Camp Nou was renovated, Barca continued the habit of starting slowly, allowing Porto to take the lead from the 30th minute. Mehdi Taremi and Wenderson Galeno consecutively failed to shoot, but the ball bounced right out. range for 26-year-old winger Pepe to kick a cross-field pass from close range to open the score.

This is the fourth consecutive time Barca conceded first, in all competitions. In the previous three matches, the Catalan club drew 1-1 with Rayo Vallecano, won 2-1 against Alaves in La Liga and lost 0-1 to Shakhtar in the Champions League.

But yesterday, Xavi and his team successfully overcame difficulties, when the pair of players loaned back in the summer of 2023 shined. In the 32nd minute, Pedri opened the ball to the left for Cancelo. The Portuguese defender dribbled Joao Mario’s ribs, entered the penalty area and curled the ball into the far corner to beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa. Cancelo scored his third goal in 16 matches in all competitions this season, equaling his best personal record in a season while playing for clubs in Europe’s top five national leagues.

In the 57th minute, Cancelo continued to shine with a cross to let Felix cross into the corner from close range, completing the comeback for Barca. Felix scored his third goal through five Champions League group stage matches this season, equaling his personal best in a season – three goals while playing for Atletico in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons. Before that, he scored a double in the opening match against Antwerp 5-0 in early September.

 

Cancelo and Felix joined Barca at the end of the 2023 summer transfer window, under a loan contract without a buyout clause. However, Xavi and Barca’s leadership have repeatedly publicly stated that they want to retain the Portuguese star duo.

On December 3, Barca continued to have another difficult match at the Olympic Stadium when they received Atletico Madrid in round 15 of La Liga.