Barcelona will travel to Dinamo Kiev on Tuesday night knowing that a victory would see them book their spot in the knockout round of the Champions League with two games to spare.
Ronald Koeman’s side are currently top of Group G with nine points, while Dynamo occupy third position in the section, having picked up just one point from their opening three matches.
Dynamo were always going to be up against it in Group G due to the presence of Barca and Juve, and it does appear that third is the best that they can hope for, which would see them drop into the Europa League
A win on Tuesday would keep them in the argument for a top-two position, although Juve will be expected to beat Ferencvaros, who are bottom of the section, also with one point to show from three games.
Dynamo opened their Group G campaign with a 2-0 home defeat to the Italian champions before picking up a point away to Ferencvaros. The Ukrainian side gave an excellent account of themselves away to Barca last time out but ultimately suffered a 2-1 defeat, with Gerad Pique scoring the decisive goal.
The Ukrainians will enter this match off the back of a 2-0 win over Inhulets’ in the league on Saturday, and they are currently top of their domestic league with 23 points from 10 matches.
Barca’s domestic troubles continued on Saturday night as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid, and the result has left them down n 10th position in Spain’s top flight.
Not since the 1995-96 campaign have the Catalan giants picked up fewer points (11) from their first eight matches, and the recent losses to Real Madrid and Atletico is not what Koeman would have had in mind.
There are clearly big problems at the club, but the Champions League has been kind to them this season, winning each of their three games against Ferencvaros, Juve and Dynamo to rise to the top of the section.
As mentioned, a win in Ukraine would see them qualify for the last-16 stage of the competition with two games to spare, which would ease some of the pressure on the new head coach. Incredibly, Barca have not lost in the group stages of the Champions League since the 2016-17 season, winning 17 and drawing six of their last 23 matches.
Five-time European champions, the La Liga giants have reached at least the quarter-finals of the Champions League in each of the last 13 seasons, but they have won just seven of their last 18 away games in the competition and are likely to face a tough examination in Kiev on Tuesday night.
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Dynamo were without 13 first-team players for the reverse game at Camp Nou due to nine coronavirus cases, three injuries and one suspension, which makes their performance even more remarkable.
The home side have a number of absentees for this match, including Oleksandr Tymchyk, Nazariy Rusyn and Vladimir Kostevych through injury, but the squad is in much better shape from the clash at Camp Nou.
Vladyslav Supriaha led the line against Barca last time out, and the 20-year-old should again feature in the final third of the field on Tuesday night.
As for Barca, Ronald Araujo, Ansu Fati, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets remain on the sidelines through injury, while Samuel Umtiti is still absent due to ongoing knee issues.
The Catalan giants suffered more problems against Atletico with Pique picking up a knee problem, which could rule him out for an extended period, while Sergi Roberto suffered a muscular injury in the same match and will not be involved on Tuesday night.
Koeman has also taken the decision to leave both Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong out of the squad, meaning that the visitors will be far from at full strength.
Oscar Mingueza has been included in the squad and is expected to join Clement Lenglet in the middle of the defence, while Carles Alena could earn a start in the middle of the park.
Philippe Coutinho made his return from injury as a substitute on Saturday, meanwhile, and the Brazil international could now feature in the starting XI on Tuesday night.
