Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola predictably fielded an understrength team to welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to the CampNou for the final group game of the Champions League.
And the Ukrainians, who were out to avenge their heartbreaking last minute 2-1 defeat to the Catalans in the reverse fixture on Matchday Two, duly took advantage of their weakened opponents to clinch a memorable albeit academic 3-2 victory, leaving Guardiola with mixed emotions about the result.
“We lost but overall, we performed well throughout the group phase,” he told uefa.com during the post-match interviews.
“We are happy that we had done our job even before this final match and that allowed us to rest our players.
“We had a few problems tonight, especially in the final third. Our strikers didn’t have too much luck and Shakhtar played a very good game. They showed that they are a team that know how to play on the counterattack.
“It is a defeat that does not concern us too much because it was an unusual situation. But obviously, we don’t like losing regardless of the circumstances,” he concluded.
Guardiola and his charges will have a chance to put things right this Saturday when they entertain eternal enemies, Real Madrid in La Liga’s El Clasico showdown.
KS Leong, Goal.com
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