"We are winning the UCL", "Bring us City" - Twitter explodes as Barcelona breeze past Antwerp in UCL fixture
Spanish champions Barcelona began their 2023-24 UEFA Champions League campaign with a dominant win over Belgian champions Royal Antwerp in their group stage opener. The Blaugrana blew their opponents, debutants in the competition, away with a five-star showing at home.
Coming off the back of two seasons in which they were knocked out in the group stage, Barcelona have a point to prove. Xavi's side were up against an Antwerp side that reached the competition via a dramatic league triumph in their first game.
Former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld scored an incredible 94th minute screamer ina 2-2 draw against Genk to confirm Royal Antwerp's first league title since 1957. The Belgian Pro League entered the final day of the 2022-23 campaign with a three-horse race. However, Antwerp pipped Genk and Club Brugge to emerge winners.
The five-time champions wasted no time to establish their dominance, eventually running out 5-0 victors in front of a packed Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
The performance and result, although not against the strongest of oppositions, was enough to send the club's fans into a joyous mood. They took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their reactions to the dominant win at home. See some of the reactions below:
A fan took the opportunity to thank manager Xavi and club president Joan Laporta for their good work.
Another fan praised the quality of the side following the win.
Another group of fans predicted that their team will win the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2015, asking to face champions Manchester City.
"We are winning the UCL. official and confirmed."
"Bring us City"
A neutral also congratulated the Spanish side for their dominant performance against Antwerp.
Barcelona are top of Group H after the win, with Portuguese giants FC Porto in second place after their 3-1 win. Shakhtar Donetsk and Royal Antwerp were on the losing side in their respective games and occupy the bottom two spots.
Dominant Barcelona swept Belgian champions aside
Antwerp won the Belgian Pro League last season and followed it up with the Super Cup this season. Managed by former Barcelona midfielder Mark Van Bommel, they arrived in Spain on the back of a six-game unbeaten run across two competitions. They had lost only one game all season as they started the season strongly.
Barcelona needed only 11 minutes to open the scoring through Portuguese forward Joao Felix, who scored for the second game in a row. Robert Lewandowski doubled the lead for the home side eight minutes later before an own goal from Jelle Bataille made it three. Gavi and Felix scored in the second half to round off the scoring for the Blaugrana at home.
The Spanish champions will continue their season against Celta Vigo at the weekend in La Liga. Their next game in the Champions League will be against FC Porto, and both sides will vie for top spot.