Barcelona have picked up back-to-back defeats after they lost 3-2 to Royal Antwerp in their final Champions League group stage match, a result that will pile even more pressure on the under-fire Xavi Hernandez.
The Catalans made several changes to the side that lost to Girona on Sunday, but they did not have the desired effect as Antwerp took the lead after 76 seconds. A combination of poor play from Inaki Pena and Oriol Romeu allowed Arthur Vermeeren to fire home inside the opening two minutes.
Fortunately for Barcelona, they were able to equalise inside the first half. An incisive counter-attack ended with Lamine Yamal setting up Ferran Torres, who made no mistake to draw the Blaugrana back level.
However, Antwerp would score the winner after 56 minutes. Romeu was again at fault as he lost the ball close to goal, and Vincent Janssen made no mistake to make it 2-1.
Barcelona thought they had secured a point after 17-year-old Marc Guiu fired home his second goal of the season for the first team, but Antwerp’s own 17-year-old – George Illenikhena – scored the winner in the 93rd minute.
El gol de Marc GUIU pic.twitter.com/vrhhAxHhst
— FCBSeny (@FCBseny) December 13, 2023
Despite losing, Barcelona top Group H due to their superior head-to-head record over Porto, although that is very unlikely to give Xavi any respite.
