Cancelo, Lewandowski, Romeu react after Shakhtar 1-0 Barcelona: “Playing very poorly”

Barcelona slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, in the UEFA Champions League.

It was a shocking result for the Catalans, who were heading into the game on the back of three successive wins in the UCL group stages.

Barcelona players on the defeat

Speaking to the press after the game, both Joao Cancelo, Oriol Romeu, and Robert Lewandowski pointed out that Barcelona must improve and that the opposition were sturdy on the night.

“The sporting sensations are not good. We have been playing very poorly for two games,” Cancelo said (h/t SPORT).

Barcelona were coming on the back of a narrow 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad on the weekend. And after securing nine points in Europe, a win against Shakhtar would have been enough to seal a spot in the knockout rounds.

“We are left with the bad feeling of losing a match that would have served to advance to the next round of the Champions League. Against Real Sociedad, we did not deserve the victory and today we did not play a good game to get the three points,” Cancelo added.

A similar statement was echoed by midfielder Oriol Romeu, who was starting for the first time after two matches.

“It is a tough defeat. We wanted to win and secure qualification, but it was not to be. We have to concede fewer chances to the rival and attack better,” said Romeu (h/t SPORT).

Romeu also spoke about Xavi making four substitutions in a go in the second half, saying: “I suppose that Xavi wanted a change in dynamics and attack, to see if it worked.”

Lewandowski also offered his analysis of the game after the defeat, adding (h/t SPORT), “Today they played with great regularity, they scored a goal, they had another in the first half. We are missing the last pass, but also the path to these situations.”

The road ahead

Lewandowski, though, is hopeful Barcelona can turn it around in the next game when the Catalans take on Deportivo Alaves.

“We have something to work on and we hope that on Sunday, in the next game, we will improve our game, especially in attack. It is a difficult moment for us, but I hope we will overcome it soon. It has been hard, but I hope we will get back to normality quickly,” he said.

Cancelo, too, remained upbeat while suggesting that Barcelona must come back from the international break with a renewed mindset.

“Now we have a game on Saturday to continue growing,” the Portuguese said. “After the break, we will have to return with a different mentality.”