In a crucial confrontation, the "Magic Man" Ainin Charlante faced an unprecedented challenge against the Porto defense, and the striker's opponent was Tiago Ajendana from Liverpool.
Xalante had scored in 10 consecutive matches, but his record has hit a bottleneck under the tactical setup of Gaudiona. In the last UEFA Europa League match against Copenhagen, Gaudiona kept him out of the team with the intention of saving him for this match. However, Xalante failed to break the deadlock under Liverpool's tight defense.
The stats reveal that Xalante played all 90 minutes of the campaign, participating in 39 touches, 17 passes, one key pass, six shots, four on target, but failed to score, as well as one unsuccessful crossing attempt, and one missed opportunity.
On the defensive end, Summerlander grounded out seven times, fought for the ball three times, lost possession 11 times, finished with three sacks, and had one foul. After the game, his performance received only a 6.7 rating from rating sites.
It is worth noting that Liverpool have managed to shut out Xalanta twice this season, once in the pre-season Community Shield game and again in this very game. After the match, Liverpool manager Gopp took to social media to post a picture of Xalanta being defended by Ajantana and exclaimed, "It's definitely the masterpiece of the season."
