PREVIEW | Dynamo Kyiv v FC Barcelona

It’s a huge game for FC Barcelona on Tuesday at 9.00pm CET as they travel to the Ukrainian capital knowing that anything but a win could put their Champions League last sixteen hopes in serious jeopardy.

After a 1-1 draw at home to Alavés in his first game since taking over as interim manager, Sergi Barjuan now faces his first away trip and his first European fixture with a number of major injury concerns to make the task even harder.

Remember the clocks have changed in Europe, so you might need to double check the kick-off time for this one...

How it stands

After 3-0 defeats at home to Bayern Munich and away to Benfica, Barça finally got some points in the bag with a 1-0 defeat of Kyiv at Camp Nou on November 2.

The good news is the Catalans are still only one point behind Benfica. After the Portuguese side lost 4-0 at home to Bayern, it is safe to assume that they are going to struggle to get anything out of their game in Munich, presenting Barça with a strong chance of moving into second place in the group with a crunch game at home to Benfica to come next.

But although logic suggests that this group will end with Bayern top and Barça and Benfica going head-for-head for second place, Dynamo know that if they can get the right result against Barça then they will very much be part of the equation too.

Team news

Good news for Barça with Ansu Fati, Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo and Ousmane Dembélé all back in the squad after recovering from their respective injuries. For French striker Dembélé it is the first time he has been called up this season after his recovery from a knee injury picked up playing for France in the Euro 2020 tournament in June of this year. 

Last five meetings

2009/10 Champions League Group Stage
Barça 2 (Messi, Pedro) Kyiv 0
Kyiv 1 Barça 2 (Xavi, Messi)

2020/21 Champions League Group Stage
Barça 2 (Messi, Pique) Kyiv 1
Kyiv 0 Barça 4 (Dest, Braithwaite 2, Griezmann)

2021/22 Champions League Group Stage
Barça 1 (Pique) Kyiv 0

Did you know?

Dynamo beat Barça three times in the 1990s, but in five meetings so far this century, the Catalans have won every time.

Dynamo have played eleven games against Liga teams since the turn of the century, and their record is three draws, eight defeats and not a single win.

Dynamo have had the fewest shots on goal (17) of all 32 teams in the Champions League group stage, and only eight of those have been on target.

Last five games

Oct 30 (LIGA) Barça 1-1 Alavés
Oct 28 (LIGA) Rayo Vallecano 1-0 Barça
Oct 25 (LIGA) Barça 1-2 Real Madrid
Oct 20 (UCL) Barça 1-0 Dynamo Kyiv 0
Oct 17 (LIGA) Barça 3-1 Valencia

Oct 30 (LEAGUE) Mariupol 2-3 Dynamo
Oct 27 (CUP) Matiupol 1-2 Dynamo
Oct 24 (LEAGUE) Dynamo 2-0 Dnipro-1
Oct 20 (UCL) Barça 1-0 Dynamo 0
Oct 16 (LEAGUE) Lviv 1-4 Dynamo

Sergi Barjuan says

The Barça coach acknowledged that only a win would do for Barça in Kyiv on Tuesday in the Champions League: