"Ship him to Saudi", "Must be released now" - Barcelona fans unimpressed by star's 'rubbish' performance in 1-0 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk
Barcelona fans slammed Robert Lewandowski after he failed to have an impact during the Blaugrana's 1-0 defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, November 7.
Barcelona looked well off the pace in the first half at the Volksparkstadion with the home team looking more comfortable on the ball. Mykola Matviyenko had a good chance to score in the 15th minute with his volley being saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Shakhtar took a shock lead in the 40th minute when Heorhiy Sudakov pinged a lovely diagonal ball onto the right flank into the path of Giorgi Gocholeishvili. The latter curled a cross into the box, where Danylo Sikan headed the ball into the back of the net.
The home side thought they doubled their advantage in the 87th minute when Newerton blasted the ball into the bottom-right corner. However, his goal was ruled out due to offside. Shakhtar were able to hold onto their 1-0 lead, securing three important points.
Xavi Hernandez and Co. are still at the top of Group H in the Champions League with nine points from four games, three points ahead of third-placed Shakhtar.
Barcelona fans blasted Robert Lewandowski for his performance. He had a pass accuracy of 73%, none of his two shots were on target, and he lost eight duels. One fan posted on X (formerly Twitter):
"Must be released now"
Another fan wrote:
"Ship him to Saudi"
Lewandowski has had a decent start to the season, scoring six goals and providing four assists in 12 appearances across competitions.
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona: Exploring the stats from Champions League clash
Shakhtar Donetsk produced a memorable upset by beating Barcelona 1-0 at home in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. Let's take a look at the stats to see how both teams performed.
The Blaugrana dominated possession with 69 percent of the ball. They also completed a total of 711 passes with an accuracy of 90 percent. In contrast, Shakhtar had 31 percent possession and registered 342 passes with an accuracy of 75 percent.
Despite having more of the ball, Barcelona failed to make the most of their chances, landing 13 shots in total with just one being on target. On the other hand, Shakhtar landed nine shots with four being on target, and proved to be the worthy winners on the night.