Barca progressed from Champions League Group F with a Lionel Messi-inspired a 2-1 win at Dynamo Kiev.
Argentine dazzles in Kiev before suffering sprained ankle
Reigning champions Barcelona avoided a scare as they progressed in top spot from the surprisingly tightly-contested Group F to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League following a 2-1 victory at Dynamo Kiev.
Artem Milevskiy had put Kiev in front after two minutes, but Xavi equalised before half-time and a late free-kick from the brilliant Ballon d'Or Lionel Messi ensured Pep Guardiola's Barca would advance with Inter Milan in second place.
Barca had looked back to their aesthetic best when sweeping aside the Italians, who defeated Rubin Kazan on Wednesday, at Camp Nou in their last continental sortie, but Guardiola's charges were instantly on the back foot in Ukraine.
Kiev, who lost to goals from Messi and Pedro in Spain in September, came storming at the current kings of Europe with distinct intent and were rewarded with only 120 seconds on the clock at the passionate and vocal Valeri Lobanovski stadium.
Cerebral duo
Clearly requiring no time to acclimatise to the freezing conditions, Milevskiy applied the deftest of touches to Andriy Shevchenko's cross and Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes had a moment to forget as he allowed the ball to squirm under his body.
La Liga leaders Barca were riled and responded by governing possession, Guardiola preaches that the ball must do the work, before the reward of a 33rd minute equaliser as Xavi tapped in Eric Abidal's centre following a beautifully flowing move.
Kiev had remained a counter-attacking threat, however, after the interval their opponents' cerebral duo of Xavi and Messi were proving as illusive as they had to Manchester United in Rome in last season's European Cup final.
The Ukrainians' frustration was evident and English referee Howard Webb brandish the yellow card in the direction of Leandro Almeida and Ognjen Vukojevi, while Gerard Pique had a goal ruled out for pushing from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Messi, who won the 2009 European Footballer of the Year above third-placed Xavi, then delivered the goal his performance merited with four minutes remaining as he hit a superb free-kick past Oleksandr Shovkovskyy and in off the underside of the bar to condemn Kiev to bottom spot.
But the Argentine's evening was marred in the dying minutes when he was clattered by a fierce tackle from Almeida, with Barca later confirming that he had sprained an ankle and was a doubt for Saturday's derby with Espanyol.
| Dynamo Kiev |
Team Statistics |
Barcelona |
| 1 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
8 |
| 1 |
Shots off Target |
0 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 2 |
Corners |
5 |
| 20 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 6 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 4 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 62.6 |
Passing Success |
90 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
13 |
| 57.1 |
Tackles Success |
84.6 |
| 19.8 |
Possession |
80.2 |
| 37.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
62.7 |
|
