Ansu Fati strikes as Barcelona cruise past Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League

Ansu Fati’s impressive second-half strike gave Barcelona a glimmer of hope as they boosted their Champions League hopes with a 1-0 win at Dynamo Kiev amidst a poor run of form.

Barcelona interim coach Sergi Barjuan saw Barca held to a 1-1 draw by Alaves in his first game in charge and his team was second best for long periods against Dynamo Kiev.

But, amid talk of Barca being set to appoint club legend Xavi as Ronald Koeman’s replacement, Sergi’s team claimed a narrow win that means he can hand the reigns to his successor with their position in Europe much healthier and not at much risk as it was prior to this match.

Ansu Fati was on target once again for Barcelona scoring the winner against Dynamo Kiev in a UEFA Champions League meeting on Tuesday, 2 November. | PHOTO: Marca |

It was Fati’s stunning close-range strike that made the difference in Kiev, the teenager rifling home in the 70th minute to send Barca second in Group E on Tuesday.

A promising start from Barca soon faded, with the visitors failing to produce a single shot on target in the first half.

It was only the wayward finishing of Mykola Shaparenko that prevented Barca from going into the interval behind, the midfielder twice shooting wide at the end of well-worked moves on either side of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen denying Carlos de Pena.

The same script played out in the early stages of the second half, with Barca struggling to create anything of note against a Dynamo defense that looked comfortable for much of the contest.

Fati looked to have won Barca a penalty in the 64th minute when he went down in the box, only for VAR to rule he had kicked his own leg, but he did then provide the crucial breakthrough by emphatically dispatching Oscar Mingueza’s deflected cross.

Barcelona players celebrate after Ansu Fati scored against Dynamo Kiev in a Champions League clash at Kyiv on Tuesday, 2 November. | PHOTO: Getty Images |

Ter Stegen produced a fine diving save to prevent Viktor Tsygankov from equalizing, Dynamo was left waiting for their first goal of the campaign as Barca took a step towards the knockout stages.

Barca could arguably consider themselves fortunate to take all three points after a largely uninspiring performance.

Yet a moment of brilliance ensured they leapfrog Benfica into second after the Portuguese side were thumped 5-2 by Bayern Munich. If Barca avenges their earlier loss to Benfica with a victory at Camp Nou on November 23, they will qualify for the last 16.

Injury ruined Fati’s 2020-21 campaign, but he is proving just why the club sees him as one of their next stars in the post-Lionel Messi era and the reason for the lucrative deal he was handed.

The Spaniard has now been directly involved in four goals in his four starts for Barca in the Champions League, scoring two and providing a pair of assists.

Dynamo failed to take advantage when they had the upper hand, wasting several clear-cut chances. They suffered defeat despite finishing with 1.04 Expected Goals to Barca’s 0.81.

Though they can still qualify for the last 16, a place in the Europa League is likely Dynamo’s best hope, but they have a lot of work to do to achieve that goal.

Barcelona will make a La Liga trip to Celta Vigo on Saturday before the international break. After the break, they will host Benfica in what will be a decider on who takes on the second position in the group.

Dynamo hosts Vorskla in the Ukrainian Premier League on Saturday as well, with their next Champions League assignment a clash with a rampant Bayern.