UEFA Champions League: Pique makes a record and helps Barca to their 1st win in the tournament

Pique helps Barcelona

Pique scored the only goal in Barcelona’s win against Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday. Barcelona played in a 4-3-3 formation similar to the line-up against Valencia, but Luuk De Jong came in place of Ansu Fati, Oscar Mingueza started instead of Sergi Roberto and Lenglet stepped in for a suspended Eric Garcia.

The Catalan giants lacked the cutting edge in the first half, with a flurry of chances missed. Dest had the best of the lot in the early barge at Kyiv’s door. The US international missed a close-range header from a close range. Meanwhile, Luuk De Jong saw a hat-trick of chances passing by.

Barcelona pressed with greater intensity and recovered the ball quickly in the game. Dynamo Kyiv rarely broke through Barcelona’s defense. And in the rare times, they did Ter Stegen was readily sweeping the balls.

Jordi Alba was particularly impressive in the game, combining with Depay and Ansu Fati ( 2nd half ) and putting in a lot of crosses into the box. Barcelona did find their reward in the 36th minute after Pique sliced home the sole goal of the game after a perfect cross from Jordi Alba. It was Pique’s 16th goal in the Champions League and he shares the record of being the top scoring defender in the Champions League alongside Roberto Carlos. Pique pipped past Sergio Ramos who has 15 goals to his name.

This was Barcelona’s first goal in this season’s UEFA Champions League after starting the season off after losing two Bayern and Benfica, losing both games by a scoreline of 3-0.

Ansu and Coutinho On

Ronald Koeman made instant changes in the second half. He brought off Luuk De Jong and Oscar Mingueza, bringing on Ansu Fati and Philippe Coutinho for the second half. Once again Barcelona’s left-hand side was impressive, with Depay, Fati, and Alba overloading the left-hand side of the attack.

Ansu Fati missed out on a chance to double the lead after creating the chance himself with a determined pressing.

Barcelona managed to keep Kyiv out and took home an important three points in the Champions League. Now the Catalan giants will set their sights on the first El Clasico of the season in the weekend.