Champions League
December 9, 2009
Dynamo Kiev
1 - 2
Barcelona
Group F
19:45 GMT, December 9, 2009
Dinamo Stadion, Minsk
Referee: Howard Webb
Messi free-kick seals top spot
Scoring Summary
| Dynamo Kiev | Barcelona |
|---|---|
| Artem Milevskiy (2') | Xavi (33') |
| Lionel Messi (86') |
Teams
| Dynamo Kiev | Barcelona |
|---|---|
| 1 Oleksandr Shovkovskiy | 1 Victor Valdés |
| 44 Leandro Almeida | 5 Carles Puyol |
| 25 Yussuf Ayila | 3 Gerard Piqué |
| 3 Betao | 22 Eric Abidal |
| 11 Roman Eremenko | 2 Dani Alves |
| 17 Taras Mikhalik | 16 Sergio Busquets |
| 5 Ognjen Vukojevic | 15 Seydou Keita |
| 10 Artem Milevskiy | 6 Xavi |
| 21 Gerson Magrão | 8 Andrés Iniesta |
| 70 Andriy Yarmolenko | 9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic |
| 7 Andriy Shevchenko | 10 Lionel Messi |
| Substitutes | |
| 26 Andriy Nesmachniy | Thierry Henry 14 |
| 20 Oleg Gusev | Rafael Márquez 4 |
| 36 Milos Ninkovic | José Manuel Pinto 13 |
| 8 Oleksandr Aliev | Yaya Touré 24 |
| 4 Tiberiu Ghioane | Maxwell 19 |
| 22 Artem Kravets | Bojan Krkic 11 |
| 31 Stanislav Bogush | Pedro 17 |
| Substitutions | |
| Milos Ninkovic for Gerson Magrão (75) | Pedro for Andrés Iniesta (82) |
| Rafael Márquez for Gerard Piqué (88) | |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Leandro Almeida (51) | Gerard Piqué (45) |
| Ognjen Vukojevic (55) | Zlatan Ibrahimovic (77) |
| Taras Mikhalik (78) | Xavi (81) |
| Andriy Shevchenko (88) | |
| · Squads: Dynamo Kiev | Barcelona | |
Lionel Messi's brilliant late free-kick helped Barcelona recover from a nightmare start to defeat Dynamo Kiev and secure top spot in Group F, while the Ukrainian side waved goodbye to European competition for the season.
With Inter Milan on their way to a 2-0 win over Rubin Kazan in the other group match, a draw would have been enough for Barca to finish top courtesy of their better head-to-head record against the Italians, but the reigning European champions took all three points thanks to Messi's 86th-minute goal.
It was a heartbreaking strike from Dynamo's point of view though, as a draw would have seen them pip Rubin to third spot and a place in the Europa League.
In a group where all four sides could still have claimed a top-two spot heading into the final round of fixtures, Dynamo started the game with the hardest task as they were three points behind leaders Barca and a point behind Inter and Rubin.
But Valeri Gazzaev's men got the perfect start when they took the lead inside the opening 90 seconds through Artem Milevskiy with the first attack of the game.
A Gerard Pique foul on Milevskiy gave Dynamo a free-kick in a dangerous position near the corner of the box, and Andriy Shevchenko's powerful cross-shot into the area took the slightest of glances off Milevskiy's head before escaping the clutches off Victor Valdes and rolling over the line.
Valdes will perhaps feel he could have done better with the goal, having initially appeared to have collected the ball falling down to his right, but it was not an easy save for the Barca custodian.
That goal made things even tighter in Group F and Barca will have been feeling the heat amid freezing conditions in the Ukraine capital.
However, Pep Guardiola's side showed why they are the best team in Europe - and could make a clean sweep of all six major trophies in 2009 if they win the FIFA Club World Cup - by reacting to that early setback with typical panache.
Messi almost drew the teams level in the 13th minute when he pounced on a poor clearance by Olexandr Shovkovskiy, but the Dynamo keeper redeemed himself by saving the newly-crowned Ballon d'Or winner's low shot from the edge of the box. Shovkovskiy was then called upon to keep our efforts from Dani Alves and Zlatan Ibrahimovic before Xavi drew Barca level in the 33rd minute.
Eric Abidal's low cross into the six-yard box was inch-perfect for Xavi and the Barca playmaker slid into divert the ball past Shovkovskiy. There were no more additions to the scoreline before the break even though Barca dominated possession.
Like in the first half, Dynamo started the second period the better and Leandro Almeida had a decent chance to restore the home side's lead in the 53rd minute but he headed Shevchenko's deep free-kick into the side-netting at the far post. That was one of the few chances of the second period though and the match looked to be heading for a draw until Messi popped up late on to earn Barca the win.
The Argentinian superstar added another wonder goal to his impressive collection as he curled a 25-yard free-kick in off the underside of the crossbar for his 11th goal in all competitions this season.
Messi and Ibrahimovic could have added late goals only to be denied by crucial stops from Shovkovskiy, but Barca had done enough to take the spoils.