Barcelona will travel to Ukraine to face Dynamo Kyiv this Tuesday in a crunch Champions League match that could determine their destiny in the competition this campaign.
Venue: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium (Kiev)
Key Statistics
Dynamo Kyiv have won their last three games
They have scored two or more goals in four of their last five competitive games.
The hosts are also unbeaten at home this season (W6, D2).
They have not conceded a goal in eight home games this season.
Barcelona have not won away from home in six competitive games.
They have lost their last three away games and have also failed to score in four consecutive away games.
Head to head
As expected, Barcelona have the edge in this fixture as they have won eight of the last ten head-to-head games. Dynamo have two wins.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Dynamo Kyiv: W-W-W-L-W
Barcelona: D-L-L-W-W
Dynamo Kyiv
Dynamo Kyiv will hope to get their first win in the Champions League when they welcome Barcelona to the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv.
Since losing to Barcelona in the reverse fixture, the home team have gone on a three game-winning run.
They head into this tie with a formidable home record, having not lost a game or conceded a goal at home this season. In those home games, they scored twenty times, only failing to score in two games.
However, Barcelona will provide a different test for Mircea Lucescu’s side who are sitting rock bottom in Group E with one point.
Meanwhile, Denys Popov, Ibrahim Kargbo, Vladyslav Kulach, and Artem Besedin are injured at the moment and have been ruled out of this match. Vladyslav Supriaga is also carrying a knock and might not feature in this game.
Possible Dynamo Kyiv starting line-ups
Denys Boyko; Oleksandr Karavaev, Artem Shabanov, Illia Zabarnyi, Tomasz Kedziora; Serhiy Sydorchuk, Mykola Shaparenko; Vitaliy Buyalskiy, Viktor Tsygankov, Carlos de Pena; Ilia Shkurin
Barcelona
Sergi Barjuán will look to get his first win as Barcelona coach when he takes his side to Kyiv this Tuesday.
The Spaniard, who is in charge of the Barcelona first team on an interim basis after Ronald Koeman was sacked, began his Barca reign with a 1-1 draw with Alaves over the weekend.
His side will travel to Ukraine sitting third on the group standings with three points. They are just one point off second-placed Benfica and will hope to get a win here to give them a chance of qualifying from this group.
However, their form away from home is terrible. The Blaugrana have not won away from home this season (D2, L3) and have failed to score in their last four trips. They also conceded seven times and kept only one clean sheet in that period.
In the UCL, they have scored just one goal this term, which is their lowest goal tally after three games in a single European campaign.
Meanwhile, injuries to Sergio Aguero and Gerard Pique also make it more difficult for Barjuan. Ronald Araujo and Martin Braithwaite are also ruled out of this tie while Ansu Fati has picked up a knock during the week and will be unavailable for selection.
Possible Barcelona starting line-ups
Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Jordi Alba, Eric Garcia, Clement Lenglet, Oscar Mingueza; Sergio Busquets, Nico Gonzalez, Gavi; Sergino Dest, Philippe Coutinho, Memphis Depay.
Prediction
Despite their injury problems and poor form, Barcelona remain the favourites for this tie and should be able to see off Dynamo Kyiv.
