Barcelona were shocked and denied a chance to advance to the knockout round of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2021 by Shakhtar Donetsk courtesy of a lone goal by Danylo Sikan in the first half on Tuesday night at the Volksparkstadion stadium.

Before the game at Shakhtar’s adopted homegrown in Germany due to the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine, Barcelona needed to secure three points to qualify for the round of 16 with two goals to spare, but the result went the other way.

As expected, Barcelona began the game on the front foot as soon as the referee blew the whistle and made multiple attempts at goal, including an effort by  İlkay Gündoğan that narrowly missed the top right corner before the host returned fire soon after but was saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

However, it was the hosts that grabbed an unlikely lead in the 40th minute from a powerful header by Sikan courtesy of a cross from Gocholeishvili, who was left unmarked and allowed to curl a right-footed cross into the 18-yard area for the eventual scorer.

In an attempt to level the game after the break, former Manchester City star Feran Toress burst towards the edge of the box from the right flank, but the shot from the Spaniard went over the crossbar. In the 48th minute, Gocholeishvili almost doubled the lead, but Ter Stegen saved his shot.

Both teams would come to scoring in the second half afterwards, but Sikan’s goal was enough for Shakhtar Donetsk to secure all the points, allowing the Ukrainian side, now on six points, to keep their chances of advancing to the next round alive.