By Chris Wright
Yes, they may have shipped five goals (Iniesta, Alves, Pique, Keita, Xavi) during a Barca blitz at the Camp Nou last night, but for recreational gambling purposes I am forced to believe that Shakhtar will still do those pesky Catalans over on their own patch in a week’s time.
I live in hope.
Photos…
Andres Iniesta fires Barca ahead after just 100(ish) seconds
Dani Alves rounds Shakhtar ‘keeper Andrei Pyatov to roll home Barca’s second…
…then peels off to celebrate in front of the home support
A couple of Jose Mourinhos watch the game from the stands
Lionel Messi skips away from Shakhtar’s goal-scorer Yaroslav Rakitskiy
Gerard Pique celebrates after seeing his deflected shot ping past a wrong-footed Pyatov to put Barca three up…
…only to then be ambushed by an ecstatic Xavi
Andres Iniesta holds off Mykola Ishchenko
Midfield enforcer Lionel Messi brings down Douglas Costa with a hefty challenge
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu despairs on the touchline as Pep Guardiola looks on
Seydou Keita thanks the big man after thrashing home Barca’s fourth goal
Lionel Messi reacts after watching a chance go begging
Xavi celebrates after rounding off the scoring with a fifth for Barca with minutes left to play
Barcelona players celebrate after the final whistle
COME ON SHAKHTAR!
Photos courtesy of the PA.