Barcelona's perfect campaign in the UEFA Champions League has been the only good thing for the club recently. They don't have a president in charge, are dealing with financial difficulties, several players are injured, and have struggled in La Liga. They are 12th in the Spanish league after losing to Atletico Madrid. (More Football News)
Now, the Champions League has emerged as Barcelona's safe haven this season, so much so that they have left Lionel Messi at home for the match in Ukraine. Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman decided to rest both Messi and Frenkie de Jong for the game against Dynamo Kyiv. And the Catalans, without their two prolific players, can secure a spot in the knockout stage for the 17th straight season.
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Messi has played in every match so far this season after having his request to leave the club denied in the offseason. De Jong had also played in every match, and both also spent time with their national teams.
"Neither Leo nor Frenkie are travelling," Koeman said. "They need some rest. With nine points in our group, we are in a comfortable situation and we have to keep them fresh."
Barca have won their Champions League group every time since 2007-08, and they haven't lost a group match since the 2016-17 season. Dynamo Kyiv, meanwhile, are making their first group appearance since the 2016-17 season.
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With three victories from three matches, Barcelona lead Group G ahead of Juventus and have an eight-point advantage over both Dynamo Kyiv and Hungarian club Ferencvaros. Juventus have six points.
Match details
Match: Matchday four of UEFA Champions League 2020-21, Group G match between Dynamo Kiev and Barcelona
Date: November 25 (Wednesday), 2020
Time: 1:30 AM IST, 22:00 PM in Kyiv (Tuesday)
Venue: Olympic National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine.
TV Listing: Sony TEN 1/HD (In Indian subcontinent)
Live Streaming: SonyLiv (In Indian subcontinent)
Elsewhere...
In Ukraine: OLL.tv, footballua.tv, Futbol 1
In Spain: Movistar Liga de Campeones, Mitele Plus, Movistar+
In the UK: BT Sport 3, BT Sport App, BTSport.com, BT Sport Extra
In the USA: CBS All Access, TUDN USA, UniMas, TUDN App, TUDN.com, ZonaFutbol, Univision NOW
Likely XIs
Dynamo Kiev: Bushchan; Kedziora, Zabarnyi, Mykolenko, Karavaev; Shepelev, Harmash; Shaparenko, Buyalskyi, De Pena; Supriaha.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; Pjanic, Alena; Pedri, Coutinho, Dembele; Griezmann.
