Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona final score, result and highlights as Sikan checks Barca's qualification hopes

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Dom Farrell
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Danylo Sikan
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Danylo Sikan forced Barcelona to wait for qualification to the Champions League knockout stages as he headed Shakhtar Donetsk to a hard-earned 1-0 win in Hamburg.

Xavi’s side headed into the match having won three out of three in Group G, knowing another victory would book their place in the knockout stages with two games to spare.

But a reshuffled defence struggled to cope with Shakhtar's pace and direct running, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen standing firm to make an excellent close-range stop from Mykola Matviyenko.

When the opening goal arrived five minutes before halftime it was one to remember. Heorhii Sudakov switched play with a sumptuous ball out to right-back Giorgi Gocholeishvili, whose pinpoint cross was dispatched by Sikan for his third goal of the tournament.

Xavi sent on the likes of Joao Felix, Yamine Lamal and Pedri to try and find a response, but Barca’s service to Robert Lewandowski was sorely lacking over the course of the contest.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona final score

  Fulltime Goalscorers
Shakhtar 1 Sikan '40
Barcelona 0  

Lineups:

Shakhtar (4-1-4-1, right to left): 31. Dmytro Riznyk (GK) — 13. Giorgi Gocholeishvili, 5. Valerii Bondar, 44. Yaroslav Rakitskiy, 22. Mykola Matviyenko — 6. Taras Stepanenko (14. Yehor Nazaryna) — 11. Oleksandr Zubkov, 8. Dmytro Kryskiv, 10. Heorhii Sudakov, 39. Newerton (9. Marian Shved) — 14. Danylo Sikan (18. Kevin Kelsy)

Barcelona (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Marc-Andre ter Stegen (GK) — 2. Joao Cancelo, 4. Ronald Araujo, 15. Andreas Christensen, 17. Marcos Alonso (3. Alejandro Balde) — 22. Ilkay Gundogan, 18. Oriol Romeu (8. Pedri), 6. Gavi (32. Fermin Lopez) — 11. Raphinha (27. Lamine Yamal), 9. Robert Lewandowski, 7. Ferran Torres (14. Joao Felix).

MORE: What Newcastle United need to qualify for Champions League Round of 16: Knockout permutations, results needed

Indeed, the tireless Gocholeisvili and Sikan went closest to second-half goals before Shakhtar winger Newerton saw a brilliant late strike ruled out for offside.

Barcelona remain top of the group but Porto can go level with them on nine points if they beat Royal Antwerp in Tuesday’s later game. Shakhtar move on to six points and have breathed new life into their own qualification hopes.

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Champions League moment to cherish for Danylo Sikan

Although Sikan’s evening ended prematurely with the pain of a shoulder injury, a picturebook goal against Barcelona will have done plenty to extinguish a moment of Champions League anguish from his young career.

Last season in a game at Celtic, Sikan casually accepted a pass from Mykhailo Mudryk and tried a first-time finish into an empty net. The ball trickled wide and the clip went viral. Now he has a highlight in Europe’s top competition to savour.

The Ukraine Under-21 forward’s pace and intelligent running unsettled a rotated Barcelona defence from the start and the way he hung in the air to expertly direct Gocholeishvili’s cross beyond Ter Stegen will have caught the eye. Young centre-forwards doing classical centre-forward things on this sort of stage tend to get noticed in a hurry.

Barcelona and Xavi get Champions League reality check

Barca headed into this round of games as one of only four teams with a 100% record in this season’s competition. Even though Xavi rotated his side at Volksparkstadion, with an unfamiliar back four looking vulnerable throughout, there was enough evidence to suggest that bridging the gap to the likes of Manchester City, Bayern Munich and bitter rivals Real Madrid remains a work in progress.

Lewandowski was forced to feed off scraps, with two blocked shots the sum of his efforts for a team that hogged 68% of possession. Barcelona failed to get out of the group in the past two seasons. It would take a collapse of remarkable proportions to repeat that this time around, but the dream of a return to Wembley — where they have twice lifted the trophy — remains a work in progress.

Who is Giorgi Gocholeishvili?

Sikan wasn’t the only Shakhtar youngster to catch the eye on a stirring night for a remarkable football club. Shakhtar have been unable to play at their home stadium since 2014 and must now travel by coach to Poland before flying to any game outside of Ukraine. Which in the Champions League is all of them.

Still they manage to unearth apparent diamonds like 18-year-old Brazilian winger Newerton and Georgia international Gochleishvili. The 22-year-old signed a five-year contract when he joined from Saburtalo Tbilisi in November last year. He was only starting tonight on Yukhym Konoplya collecting bookings in each of Shakhtar’s previous three group games and the attack-minded right-back was a delight to watch.

Gochleishvili created the goal with a delicious cross, almost scored one himself and was a relentless presence in defence and attack. He remained sharp when Joao Felix arrived to give him a testing examination, while a piece of cool chest control at the back post to avert a dangerous crossfield ball provided a delightful moment. Another Shakhtar one to watch.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona as it happened, highlights, and commentary

Fulltime: Shakhtar have done it, breathing fresh life into their qualification hopes. What a magnificent triumph, considering all this club has to endure to even exits on a daily and weekly basis. Plenty to ponder for Xavi. Barca came into this matchweek as one of four sides with a 100% record. If tonight proves one thing, it's that the gap to Manchester City, Bayern Munich and rivals Real Madrid is still significant in this competition. Thanks for joining us.

90th minute+5: Joao Felix down just inside the area after spinning Gocholeishvili! The referee shakes his head and VAR concurs. 

90th minute+1: Seven minutes of added time to come. How are your nerves, Shakhtar. They'll remember Real Madrid's 95th-minute equaliser from last season. Gundogan can't get the ball out of his feet to shoot and the hosts scramble clear. Kelsey pumps up the Shakhtar fans. Who do you think you are? Anthony Gordon?

87th minute Newerton fires into the net.... but the offside flag goes up! Oh my, that almost out the seal on it in style. The young Brazilian was devastated when he looked up to see the assistant's flag raised. VAR confirms it's the correct decision.

86th minute: Kelsy on the charge, Barca backpedalling. Araujo stands his ground.

82nd minute: Fermin Lopez, who scored in blistering fashion when these sides met a couple of weeks ago, is on for Gavi. Yamal appeals for a penalty but flicked the ball into Matviyenko's arm from about a yard away. The referee is not interested.

78th minute: Counter-attacking opportunity for Shaktar but Zubkov can't pick the pass.

76th minute: Cancelo whips a cross in but it's nowhere near Lewandowski and Riznyk claims easily. The service to the Poland striker has left plenty to be desired this evening.

74th minute: A few Shakhtar players with bumps and bruises taking time on the turf as we approach the final quarter of an hour. Injuries or gamesmanship? I wouldn't like to say...

70th minute: Joao Felix has lifted this Barcelona performance and get his twinkle toes going. The Shakhtar defence are under his spell inside the box and there's a hacked clearance from the resulting low cross.

69th minute: Joao Felix has a shot deflected behind. Gundogan's corner is far too easy for Riznyk to claim.

68th minute: Once again, Barcelona are opened up down the channels and Neverton lashes into the side netting. Shakhtar can expect more chances of that ilk as Barca chase the equaliser.

67th minute: Joao Felix chips towards Lamal at the far post. The header is just wide, but the flag is up for offside. If he scores, he will become the youngest Champions League goalscorer of all time.

64th minute: Balde gets in a bit of a tangle, handball and a free-kick to Shakhtar deep down the Barca left. The Blaugrana defence deal with the ball in.

61nd minute: The substitutes combine as the 16-year-old Yamal chips one in from the right and Joao Felix volleys a shot into the turf. There's a clash of heads in there and there'll be a stoppage. The goalscorer Sikan is coming off, with his shoulder the issue.

59th minute: Romeu, Torres, Alonso and Raphinha the men to make way.

58th minute: Neverton cuts inside and sends a shot into orbit. Xavi has seen enough, with four substitutes coming on. Balde, Joao Felix, Lamine Yamal and Pedri are coming on. Torres drags a shot wide and that will probably be his last contribution.

57th minute: Zubkov slips a cute pass to Sikan, who batters it towards goal from a tight angle. Ter Stegen saves very well. Could the Shakhtar striker have cut that back? It's hard to begrudge him this shot, in fairness.

55th minute: Romelu chips one into the box but Bondar gives Lewandowski enough of a friendly nudge that he can't connect and Riznyk pouches it.

54th minute: Gavi has a low cross cleared by Rakitskiy. Barca asking a few more questions now.

51st minute: Barca attack with Sikan down on the ground after a tangle with Christensen. Torres gets the ball in the area and works it back to Raphinha, who scuffs wide. Shakhtar fans not happy about that one.

48th minute: Could be 2-0! Chances at both ends. Gocholeishvili gets in behind Alonso, with Torres' gesture to the effect of tracking back not doing his teammate too many favours. The angle is against the Georgia right-back who blasts goalwards and Ter Stegen saves at the near post.

47th minute: Torres cuts in and blasts over. A couple of times now since halftime, Barca have gone a little more direct.

46th minute: We're back underway. No changes yet, although you'd expect Xavi won't wait too long unless he sees an improvement.

Halftime: Plenty to ponder for Barcelona. Xavi's rotated side has controlled plenty of the ball as you'd expect but Shakhtar lead and are good value for it. Matviyenko drew a fine early save from Ter Stegen before Sikan crowned a wonderful team move for his third goal of this season's competition. See you back here shortly.

45th minute+2: Araujo looks to drive forward from defence. His touch is heavy and he blunders into fellow centre-back Rakitskiy. No malice but an obvious first booking of the contest.

45th minute+1: Two minutes of stoppage time as Barcelona prod and probe away. They might be happy to get into the dressing room and reassess with a narrow deficit. Gundogan is brought down about 35 yards from goal.

40th minute: GOOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Danylo Sikan!!!!!

Shakhtar hit the front and it's a wonderful goal! The hosts keep the ball and move it around, Barcelona style before a sweeping switch of play from Sudakov finds rampaging right-back Gocholeishvili. His cross in pinpoint and Sikan hangs in the air to dispatch a classic centre-forward's finish.

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35th minute: A lively minute or so for Newerton, who catches Araujo with a high boot before challenging Raphinha for a bouncing ball and landing heavily after going over the Brazilian's back. Ouch.

32nd minute: Better from Raphinha, who draws Rakitskiy into a challenge and leaves him on the turf. The former Leeds man cuts back onto his left foot and his cross is poor.

27th minute: Teenage winger Newerton skips impishly past Cancelo and charges towards halfway. Romelu steams in with a "settle down, youngster" challenge.

25th minute: Barcelona haven't located their usual fluency yet. Raphinha exemplifies this more than most. The Brazil winger has only completed nine of his 14 passes so far and needs to sharpen up.

20th minute: Gundogan orchestrates a slippery little Barcelona move, quickening the pace for Torres to pop a pass through to Lewandowski. His touch is heavy and a theatrical fall as Riznyk challenges won't stop that from being a goal kick.

15th minute: Big chance for Shakhtar. Rakitskiy pings a lovely ball over the top and Mayviyenko is in behind fellow fullback Cancelo. He cracks his shot straight at Ter Stegen from within 10 yards. Zubkov mishits the follow-up volley.

10th minute: The ball breaks to Gunodogan outside the box, he shifts into onto his right foot and curls beyond the top corner from the edge of the D. That wasn't miles away.

8th minute: Now Sikan pops up in the left channel, forcing Cancelo to get back. The Portugal international doggedly sticks to his task and wins the ball. A few encouraging moments for Shakhtar, though.

7th minute: There's a little bit of pinball in the Barcelona box from the corner and they eventually clear, albeit unconvincingly.

6th minute: Sikan gets a chance to stretch his legs around the outside of Araujo. Corner to the home side.

4th minute: Shakhtar goalkeeper Riznyk is very calm on the ball, and maybe a little too calm here. It's ultimately a foul from Lewandowski and Riznyk needs some treatment for his troubles, but that was needlessly risky

2nd minute: Gocholeishvili finds himself the wrong side of Lewandowski and makes an untidy challenge. The Barca striker goes down in the box but there wasn't really enough in that.

1st minute: Barcelona get us underway. There are plenty of Barca shirts visible around the stadium, plenty of half-and-half scarves. 

4 mins prior to kickoff: The teams are out. It's a fresh-looking night in Hamburg. Time for the famous anthem.

20 mins prior to kickoff: Despite their ongoing desperate reality as a team from a war-torn region who have not been able to play at their home stadium since 2014, Shaktar have form when it comes to turning up on these occasions. They will be loudly backed by the locals and Ukranian ex-pat community in Hamburg tonight.

Last season, they lost narrowly 2-1 away to defending champions Real Madrid, who needed a 95th-minute equaliser from Antonio Rudiger to snatch a 1-1 draw in the return game.

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40 mins prior to kickoff: Lewandowski is ready to go after his return to fitness at the weekend and he starts on a ground where he's enjoyed himself in the past. Across his Bundesliga spells with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, the Poland superstar has five goals at the Volkparkstadion.

Robert Lewandowski Barcelona 092623
(Getty Images)

1hr 5 mins prior to kickoff: And here's the Barca team. No Joao Felix the starting XI, as expected. Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres make up the front three.

1hr 15 mins prior to kickoff: Barcelona have arrived and their players are taking a walk around the Volksparkstadion turf. Meanwhile, here's the Shakhtar team news.

1 hr 30 mins prior to kickoff: Confirmed team news will be with us shortly. Various reports in Catalonia suggest Xavi will take Barca's strong position in the group as a chance to rest and rotate some key players, with Joao Felix among those expected to be given the chance to put his feet up.

Joao Felix Barcelona
(Getty Images)

2 hours prior to kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Shakhtar Donetsk versus Barcelona in the Champions League. Barca have won three out of three in Group H so far and another victory for Xavi's men would seal their passage into the knockout stages.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona lineups, team news

Head coach Marino Pusic has a full squad at his disposal with the exception of long-term injury victim Lassina Traore.

Shakhtar have long been a hotbed for young Ukrainian talent, and the latest to keep an eye on is 21-year-old playmaker Georgiy Sudakov who has been linked with the likes of Barcelona, Manchesrer City, and Juventus in recent weeks. Meanwhile, 27-year-old defender Mykola Matvienko is highly thought of as well, reportedly on Brighton's radar last winter and listed by Transfermarkt.com as the Ukrainian club's most valuable player.

Shakhtar Donetsk starting lineup (4-1-4-1): Riznyk (GK) — Gocholeishvili, Bondar, Rakiski, Matviyenko — Stepanenko — Zubkov, Kryskiv, Sudakov, Newerton — Sikan.

After struggling with injuries and suspensions over the past few weeks, Barcelona have massive reinforcements on the way for this road game.

Robert Lewandowski is finally back, having started over the weekend against Real Sociedad in a 57-minute appearance. Raphinha is also expected to return to the starting lineup following a 21-minute cameo off the bench in the1-0 win, while Pedri returned in similar fashion.

Frenkie de Jong has returned to training after two months out, meaning a place on the bench is his most likely initial involvement. That leaves Sergi Roberto (calf) as the only Barcelona player still sidelined.

Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3): Ter Stegen (GK) — Cancelo, Araujo, Christensen, Alonso — Gundogan, Romeu, Gavi — Raphinha, Lewandowski, Torres.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona live stream, TV channel

The Shakhtar versus Barcelona match from the Champions League kicks off at 6:45 p.m. local time (CET) from Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.

Below are the corresponding times, TV channels, and live streams to watch the match in regions around the world

  Date Kickoff time TV Streaming
USA Tue, Nov. 7  12:45 p.m. ET TUDN, UniMas Fubo, Paramount+, TUDN app, Univision NOW
Canada Tue, Nov. 7 12:45 p.m. ET — DAZN
UK Tue, Nov. 7 5:45 p.m GMT TNT Sports 3 discovery+
Australia Wed, Nov. 8  2:45 a.m. AEST — Stan Sport
India Tue, Nov. 7 10:15 p.m.  IST Star Sports Select 2 Hotstar VIP, JioTV
Hong Kong Wed, Nov. 8  12:45 a.m. HKT Now Premier League TV (620), Now Premier League 1 (621) Now E, Now Player
Malaysia Wed, Nov. 8 12:45 a.m. MYT Astro SuperSport Astro GO, sooka
Singapore Wed, Nov. 8 12:45 a.m. SGT 221 Hub Premier 1 StarHub TV+
New Zealand Wed, Nov. 8 4:45 a.m. NZST Sky Sport Premier League Sky Sport NOW
Author(s)
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Dom Farrell

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK.

Football
UEFA Champions League
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona