It is evident, that the departure of Lionel Andreas Messi and Luiz Suarez has affected the overall performance of Barcelona over the period.
Ronald Koeman who influenced the sale of Luiz Suarez has had his share of the blame as his team continues to struggle in games they easily won over the years.
Losing their opening game against Bayern Munich at their own backyard, FC Barcelona were tipped to redeem themselves against Benfica, but it was another fairy tale as Benfica won convincingly against the Catalans in a 3-0 thriller.
The pressure has been mounting on Koeman to get his team on track as they have showed signs of struggle both in the La Liga and other competitions.
FC Barcelona hosted Dynamo Kyiv at the Camp Nou for their UCL fixture and it was a make-or-break moment for the Catalans.
Barca started with their normal style of play keeping a lot of possession in the opening minutes of the first half and threading slowing in their attempt to breach the defense of Dynamo Kyiv.
Their persistence paid off in the 36’ minute as Gerard Pique connected to a cross from Jordi Alba.
The Catalans who in recent times showed no mercy in games changed their style of play in their intent to protect their goal which they did very well until the last minute.
Statistics of the game indicated that, Dymano Kyiv did not attempt either a shot on or off target as Barcelona had seven shots off target and four on target with one resulting in their winning goal.
The jubilation on the face of the Catalans could clearly indicate the weight that has been lifted off their shoulders with the scare of playing in the Europa league should they fail to qualify from the group stages.
I am a young and vibrant sports journalist from Ghana, a member of the Sports Writers’ Association of Ghana(SWAG), and working with Sports Preview Ghana and sports reporting outfit poised to bring all the latest and trending sports news around the globe.
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