In the spring, three Ukrainian clubs will continue their fight in the European Cups. After Dnipropetrovsk's "Dnipro" and Kyiv's "Dynamo," which secured themselves a place in the UEFA Cup, they were joined by Donetsk's "Shakhtar," which in the last match of the Champions League group stage defeated "Barcelona" with a score of 2:0.

The Catalans, who arrived in Donetsk already having a ticket to the Round of 16 of the Champions League, looked like a completely different team in the game against "Shakhtar," a pale shadow of the "Barcelona" that played previous matches in the League and in the Spanish championship. The Spaniards' head coach Frank Rijkaard left the team's leaders Deco and Ronaldinho on the bench. Moreover, this immediately affected the attacking actions of the guests. Throughout the entire first half, the "Barcelona" players managed only one shot on target toward Lashtuvka's goal, when Van Bronckhorst struck from about 19 meters.

Meanwhile, Mircea Lucescu's charges could have settled the score on the scoreboard already in the first half, which could have even sent the lucky Rijkaard into retirement. Brandao failed to convert as many as four one-on-one opportunities with Valdes. Twice the Brazilian could not hit the target from advantageous positions, and two more times "Barcelona" was saved by the goalkeeper.

The true hero of the match was the Nigerian Agahowa, who scored his first goals in the Champions League for "Shakhtar." In the 14th minute, Matuzalem sent Agahowa through with a long and precise pass for a meeting with the keeper, and the representative of the "black eagles" did not miss, beating the goalkeeper – 1:0. Even after the goal, the Donetsk side did not stop attacking the visitors' goal, and "Barcelona's" defense at times resembled a sieve. One of the main problems for the Spanish team's defenders was creating an artificial offside position. In this component of the game they made mistakes quite often, and it was precisely because of this that the first goal was scored into their net.

The second and final goal of this game flew into the Catalans' net in the 22nd minute. An attack started by Vukić was continued by Brandao, who crossed from the left flank to the 11-meter mark, where the ball deflected off Lewandowski's leg directly onto the foot of Agahowa, who from two meters sent it into the empty net – 2:0.

The second part of the duel turned out to be boring and practically without goal-scoring opportunities from both teams. The players fouled each other quite often, resulting in two yellow cards for Dulyay and Matuzalem, who took Belletti out of the game, as the latter, limping and with the help of a doctor, left the field.

True, "Shakhtar" could have scored again at the start of the final 45 minutes, but once again Matuzalem, having gone one-on-one with the goalkeeper, failed to beat Valdes.

A great credit for the fact that "Shakhtar" did not score more in this game also goes to the "Barcelona" players, who in the second part of the match played more tightly against the Miners and gave them less space for attacks. As for scoring, "Barcelona" never learned to do so in this duel. Not even a dubious penalty awarded to "Shakhtar's" goal in the 92nd minute helped the team from Spain, when the referee saw a penalty in the struggle between Dulyay and Xavi (the Spaniard fell on the turf). Iniesta stepped up to take the shot from the 11-meter mark, but Lashtuvka guessed the flight of the ball, "pulling" the leather ball out of the right corner, and Silvinho's follow-up attempt was blocked by Matuzalem.

Overall, a fully deserved victory for "Shakhtar" over the more renowned "Barcelona," and the fact that the Spaniards decided not to "bite the ground" for three points and win bonuses – that is their problem. Although, for their advancement to the UEFA Cup, "Shakhtar" should also thank "Milan," which in Scotland did not allow "Celtic" to beat them.

Group F

"Shakhtar" (Ukraine) - "Barcelona" (Spain) - 2:0 Goals: Agahowa 14, 22. In the 92nd minute, Iniesta failed to convert a penalty.

Shakhtar: 16. Jan Lashtuvka, 2. Cosmin Barcauan, 3. Tomas Hubschman, 14. Flavius Stoican (Chyhrynskyi 91), 6. Ihor Dulyay, 9. Matuzalem, 10. Zvonimir Vukić, 18. Mariusz Lewandowski, 33. Darijo Srna (Lalatović 82), 17. Julius Agahowa, 25. Brandao (Vorobey 46). Barcelona: 1. Victor Valdes, 2. Juliano Belletti (Marquez 52), 5. Carles Puyol (Oleguer 46), 12. Giovanni van Bronckhorst, 16. Silvinho, 19. Fernando Navarro, 6. Xavi (Rodri 46), 24. Andres Iniesta, 30. Messi, 31. Verdu, 36. Peral.

Tournament standings of the leaders: 1. "MILAN" - 13. 2. "BARCELONA" - 10. 3. "Shakhtar" - 6. 4. "Celtic" - 5.