Barcelona have not seen their faces with any of their three rivals in Group F of the Champions League for a long time. But even in Antwerp, with whom he was measured in the Fairs Cup 65-66, he has old acquaintances. Pepe rules Porto at the age of 40, Chigrinski has returned to Shakhtar after seven seasons in Greek football, while Van Bommel, a starter in the 2006 Paris final, has led Antwerp to its fifth league and the Champions League.
Barcelona and Porto have not met in Europe since 2011 when they met in the final of the European Super Cup, precisely in Monaco. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t common ties between the two teams. Nico González will return to the Camp Nou, where the midfielder was trained but where opportunities have not rained down on him. If last season he had to leave on loan to Valencia, this summer he was transferred for 8.5 million to the historic Portuguese club, champion of two European Cups.
If Nico will be a pillar in midfield, Pepe rules in defense, already 40 years old, who will repeat the duels to the limit that he had with the Blaugrana in his decade as a Real Madrid player. Pepe teams up with another veteran, the Cantabrian Iván Marcano, to protect Diogo Costa, the starting goalkeeper for the Portuguese team and a great penalty shootout.
Pinto da Costa, Porto’s president, has always stood out for his great sales. This time Otávio has left, heading to Arabia, for 60 million, but he has managed to retain Taremi, his scorer, whom Milan wanted. In attack, two of the dangers are two other Spaniards: Toni Martínez and Fran Navarro, signed from Gil Vicente
The current sports director of Barcelona is Deco, who in 2005 arrived at the Camp Nou from Do Dragão. Porto’s stadium will always be linked to the history of Barça and to that of Leo Messi, who made his debut in a friendly at the age of 16. November 16 marks the 20th anniversary of that premiere.
Shakhtar continues without power without playing their matches in Donetsk since the Donbass region is one of the most affected by the war conflict started by Russia in Ukraine. Until last year, the miners traveled to Poland to play their home games in European competitions. This year they have chosen Hamburg to do it. So Barcelona will play at the Volksparkstadion.
The Ukrainian club, champion in six of the last seven leagues in his country, has changed coaches because the Croatian Jovicevic has gone to Arabia. The new tenant is the Dutchman Van Leeuwen, from Zorya Luhansk.
In the squad, the days of the Brazilians are over and national talent predominates. The youngsters Kashchuk and Kryskiv stand out in the midfield and the scorer Sikan. In goal Riznyk has established itself. But the big news of the summer has been the return of Chigrinski, after seven courses in Greece. In his second game, the left-footed center back who wore Blaugrana for a year… was sent off
Royal Antwerp, who returned to the Belgian first division in 2017, surprised by being crowned league and cup champions and has now made a splash again by qualifying for the Champions League group stage, eliminating Greek side AEK. The promoter of the transformation has been Mark van Bommel, who was Xavi’s teammate in 05-06 and started in the final in Paris.
After reaping little fortune at PSV and Wolfsburg, the Dutch coach has only connected and is delighting the Bosuilstadion, with a capacity for 23,000 spectators.
His arrival coincided with Toby Alderweireld’s return from Qatar. The former Atlético defender scored 7 goals last year. In the center of the field, he has given stripes to the brain Vermeeren, with 18 years, and to the speedy Balikwisha (22). Nor would Van Bommel be understood without the additions of his compatriots Ekkelenkamp and the veteran Vincent Janssen, keys to the explosion of Antwerp, a team with its own stamp.
