Barcelona have made it two wins from two in this season’s Champions League. In what was, on paper, their most difficult group stage fixture, they have picked up a valuable three points away to Porto at the Estadio do Dragao.
Xavi Hernandez brought in Ronald Araujo and Oriol Romeu from the side that scraped past Sevilla on Friday night, and unfortunately for him and Barcelona, he was forced to make another alteration in the first half as Robert Lewandowski was forced off with an ankle injury.
However, it was his replacement Ferran Torres that scored the only goal of the game. Ilkay Gundogan pounced on a mistake in the Porto midfield, before slipping in the 23-year-old to fire into the back of the net, with what turned out to be the final kick of the first half.
Porto desperately pushed for an equaliser in the second half, with Marc-Andre Ter Stegen being forced into action on multiple occasions to keep the score at 1-0. They were also awarded a penalty, which VAR overturned on second viewing. As such, it remained 1-0, despite a late red card for Gavi.
The result sees Barcelona remain top of Group H, three points clear of Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk, who defeated Royal Antwerp 3-2 earlier on. The Catalans are now in an excellent position to reach the knockout rounds of the Champions League.