FC Barcelona met against Dynamo Kyiv at home, determined to take all 3 points possible after a poor start to the campaign. Barca just did that, but the determination and aggression was not seen. The result itself explains the match, it was a boring 1-0 win, and Barca were lucky not to concede that penalty. The attackers couldn’t capitalize on their given chances, and this is something the attackers need to seriously improve on. Overall a boring UCL night for fans to witness but the result does enlighten, 3 points.
Defence
GK: Ter Stegen – 6/10: Was a quiet evening for the German shot stopper as he didn’t have any sort of pressure or trouble in the first half and a majority of the second.
RB: Mingueza – 7/10: Was defensively brilliant and stayed in position but seemed to shy and scared to move upfront to give a sort of help on the right flank.
CB: Pique – 8/10: Pique, though aging and declining, his performance against Kyiv was superb! Scored a great goal from Alba’s wonderful pass, and defensively was excellent.
CB: Lenglet – 7/10: His first start this season, after replacing a suspended Garcia and injured Araujo. Lenglet did decent, even though he made an error to give away a potential penalty, he was lucky enough VAR rescued him and the team from losing a possible 3 points.
LB: Alba – 9/10: A deserved man of the match performance, as he was pivotal on both ends of the pitch. He seemed to be more effective in the offensive end after Ansu Fati came on the pitch. His wonderful pass to Pique gave Barca the lead and win.
Midfield
CM: Frenkie De Jong – 6/10: A decent night for the Dutchman, though he wasn’t that impactful on the offensive end.
CDM: Busquets – 7.5/10: A great performance from the captain. He defensively contributed as well as his use of possession was effective to the attack. Shined individually in the midfield.
CM: Gavi – 6/10: Like Frenkie, he was decent, but did not drop a high-level performance usually expected from him.
Attack
RW: Dest – 7.5/10: Koeman’s latest experiment, which was trying Dest at right wing, had some effect. He was a threat, on the right-hand side, as always but lacked the end product missing 2 chances. After the first half, he was moved back to his natural position, at right back.
ST: Luuk De Jong – 4/10: An expected performance by Luuk De Jong, as he clearly not effective or adds anything to the squad. He had multiple chances to put his name on the score sheet, but he failed to take advantage.
LW: Memphis – 7.5/10: Energetic in attack as always, Memphis provided some flair and threat in attack for Barca. He created 2 big chances and 5 key passes, a solid performance from Memphis.
Substitute
LW: Ansu Fati – 7/10: Brought on what Luuk De Jong lacked the most, which is energy and a presence in attack.
RW: Coutinho – 6.5/10: Brought on some energy onto the attack.
CM: Roberto – N/A
ST: Aguero – N/A
