Ten-man Antwerp also goes down in Porto and is left with 0 out of 12 in the Champions League

Ten-man Antwerp also goes down in Porto and is left with 0 out of 12 in the Champions League

Antwerp played a creditable match on the Porto field, but once again it was not possible to score points. With ten men they almost equalized in the end via Muja, but in the end they lost 2-0 and are left with 0 out of 12. You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to realize that the chance of European wintering is now almost is nil.

He once turned down the offer to be captain of the U14 team of KV Mechelen. “Let someone else take the spotlight.” But in the Champions League, in the absence of Alderweireld: that’s too special to pass up. The very first Antwerp player to enter the Estadio do Dragão: Arthur Vermeeren (18). In the history of the tournament, only Ruben Neves was a younger captain.

Vermeeren picked up a quite striking team. In addition to Alderweireld, Mark van Bommel also missed Butez and also put Bataille, Muja and Janssen on the bench. As a result, Lammens, Van den Bosch, Wijndal, Kerk and Ilenikhena kicked off. There is a word for that: unpublished. By the way, the Great Old had to take a big beating just before the match. Shakhtar surprisingly beat Barcelona and was six points ahead, meaning that – in order to finish third – they suddenly had no choice but to beat Porto at home. Swallow.

Great chance Balikwisha

However, it is still football and you (almost) always get opportunities. What’s called. After just eight minutes the visitors could easily have taken the lead. Ilenikhena, who was up against Pepe, who was 23 years, 5 months and 21 days older – you read that correctly – took advantage of a bad back pass and put Balikwisha in front of goal. We were already moving to the edge of our seats, because his sights were on edge against Genk, but now he shot far wide with his inferior left. Bummer, you know. There was more to it.

You can tell by the position of the ball: Balikwisha kicked quite far wide.

Photo: REUTERS

After the defeat against red lantern Estoril you could call Porto a wounded animal and that was an opportunity to finish – sorry for the imagery. Now, a little later, it almost struck itself. Lammens saw no play options and then hesitated a little too long, causing Taremi to half-block his shot. Evanilson – the hat-trick hero from the first leg – was then able to kick, but fortunately his aim went wide for the goalkeeper.

What followed was fifteen minutes in which Antwerp held its own – Lammens only had to pluck a header from Taremi – until Porto accelerated on the half hour. After Yusuf and Vermeeren had lost the duels in midfield, De Laet was caught on the inside by Pepê (the winger). Lammens made a good save on his shot, but Kerk prevented Eustaquio from using the rebound and the ball rightly hit the spot. Evanilson did not fail this time and put the 1-0 on the board. That was also the halftime score, because Lammens saw Taremi still blazing into the side netting and Costa had no more work to do on the other side.

Ten-man Antwerp also goes down in Porto and is left with 0 out of 12 in the Champions League

Evanilson sends Lammens the wrong way and puts the 1-0 on the board.

Photo: EPA-EFE

Free lane for George

Logical substitution at the start of the second half. De Laet, who seemed to be having some trouble after a strong sprint, made way for Bataille, who still completed his hundredth race for Antwerp. But it would be tough for the right back and the entire team, because we were five minutes into the game when the otherwise invisible Ekkelenkamp choked on his control and then continued with a straight leg on Sanusi’s shin. The referee first gave the yellow card, but we quickly realized that the VAR would intervene and so it happened. Ekkelenkamp may not have had any bad intentions – he is anything but a dirty player – but his very first red card was a fact.

At Antwerp they couldn’t say anything about that, but they did have the right to speak when a little later Ilenikhena took the piss out of Carmo and had free rein. The ref may have judged that it was still very far towards the goal (about sixty meters) and that Pepe was still standing somewhere nearby, but then he does not know how fast 17-year-old George is. Red might as well have worked and would have made a huge difference. With ten against eleven it was another half hour of puffing against Porto, who of course had the most ball possession. Van Bommel added two fresh forces with Corbanie and Muja.

Ten-man Antwerp also goes down in Porto and is left with 0 out of 12 in the Champions League

No red for Carmo, but for Ekkelenkamp.

Photo: REUTERS

Fifteen minutes before the end, Porto forgot to finish it completely, when Franco squandered a huge chance. As a result, Antwerp could still hope for a while and it could have even come alongside with ten men when Muja was allowed to score after strong work from Vermeeren. He saw his attempt blocked, but a few minutes before the end he had no excuses when he was allowed to approach Costa all alone. He had the equalizer at his feet, but kicked wide. And instead of 1-1 it became 2-0 when Pepe nodded in. Booking, also in group H. Only by beating Shakhtar by two goals and beating Barcelona, ​​where Shakhtar still has to lose to Porto, can the Great Old still go to the Europa League. But in thirty years of the Champions League, only one team managed to survive the European winter after a 0 out of 12 (Viktoria Plzen) and that was with a 3 out of 18, which is no longer possible. The statistics already say “over and out”.

Ten-man Antwerp also goes down in Porto and is left with 0 out of 12 in the Champions League

Photo: AP

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