FC Barcelona has a new crack: Fermin Lopez, 20, was decisive twice on Wednesday for his first start in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk (2-1), allowing the Blaugrana to continue their flawless performance in C1 . This third victory in as many matches brings Barça, first in Group H with 9 points, closer to qualifying for the round of 16, a stage they have not reached for two years.
Three days before the Clasico against Real Madrid, Saturday (4:15 p.m.), Xavi Hernandez, still deprived of several executives including Robert Lewandowski, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, had chosen to play against a Ukrainian team well within his reach. Even more so since the start of the Russian invasion, in February 2022, which pushed many foreign players with high potential to flee Donetsk.
Faced with this slaughter of injuries, the Catalans can fortunately count on their young talents trained at the Masia, Lamine Yamal, 16 years old, and Fermin Lopez, 20 years old, started for the first time in C1. The Spanish midfielder, who impressed in preseason in the United States with a goal and an assist against Real (3-0), once again demonstrated a disconcerting maturity with the ball. It was he who created the first opportunity of the match, first coming up against the Ukrainian goalkeeper Riznyk (8th), author of a second unacademic save between his legs in front of Cancelo (26th).
Found by Gündogan in the area, Fermin Lopez, on the edge of offside, then found the left post but Ferran Torres followed well to score forcefully (28th, 1-0). The fifth goal in eight C1 matches with Barcelona for the ex-Manchester City winger, who said he was “ready to take responsibility” before the match, considering himself “like an old man” among all these young talents . He must have taken a few wrinkles, a few minutes later, while witnessing the classy sequence of Fermin Lopez, who fired a powerful shot from the right (36th, 2-0) to score a first goal for his first tenure in the Champions League.
Returning from the locker room, the Blaugrana slowed down and were surprised by the Ukrainians, Sudakov overtaking Romeu to reduce the score on the hour mark (62nd, 2-1). Fermin Lopez continued his festival, hitting the post again (69th) before scoring a second goal with a header, refused for offside (70th). Joao Félix, more discreet than usual, had asked Riznyk with a header (49th), before leaving his team visibly injured in the right leg, which would be another hard blow for Xavi.
The Portuguese striker was replaced by Marc Guiu, 17, another jewel of the Masia who became the hero of last weekend by offering victory to Barça against Bilbao (1-0) 33 seconds after his entry into play. he almost repeated this feat from close range, but his attempt was heroically blocked by a Donetsk defender (76th). The Barcelonans trembled until the end against the Ukrainian attacks, but were able to maintain their advantage, as against Porto (1-0) on the second day.