Dynamo Kiev 0-Barcelona 1 | Ansu wins his first final

Ansu Fati won his first final for Barcelona in Kiev in a match that only the very Barça fans will remember. The victory does not provide track records, but saves (momentarily at least, many things). Ansu scored Bakero’s goal at Kaiserslautern, but in a white label version. A goal worth a win that allows the Blaugrana team to qualify mathematically for the knockout stages of the Champions League if they beat Benfica at the Camp Nou on 23 November. The dying team revived in Kiev suffering even the discount.

Faced with a critical situation, Barça I had two options: either come out scared or come out great. The first existed and the second is a characteristic to recover that Sergi’s team tried to recover in a very spirited staging that he fell face to face with his incompetence in the final meters.

The Blaugrana team came out trying to intimidate the rivals by putting pressure on the Ukrainians, who in the first ten minutes of the game barely passed the midfield. But all that good will dissipated in the final meters, where Barça’s chances were summed up in the attempt. The Catalan team was fed up with arriving a second late to their chances and when they arrived (late) they would shoot at the legs of the defenders. The domain was summarized in ‘almost occasions’.

This scenario emboldened Dinamo, who saw that Barça barked a lot, but did not bite at all and from minute 20 began to launch counterattacks that once again portrayed one of the great defects of this Barça: with very little they do a lot of damage, but this time, Ter Stegen appeared to prevent the rival’s first shot at goal, in this case De Pena, outside inside.

Shaparenko wasted another chance on the counter and doubts entered Barça. The greatness of the beginning had been lost and in the face of fear, only the effort remained. At this point, the team cannot be denied commitment, but the clumsiness in the final meters derailed any previous task, such as when Memphis rejected a header from Nico that was going to goal.

The second part was presented as a fight between lost effectiveness and confidence adding a fight against the timer. Barça faced 45 decisive minutes in which many things were played. The team continued insisting on its effort and its ineffectiveness at the end. It seemed like there was no way to dial, not even when Ansu was awarded a penalty, which the VAR corrected. This disappointment could be fatal for Barça, which nevertheless continued to insist and after the umpteenth center of Mingueza to the area, Ansu caught that ball that he had been looking for for 70 minutes to shoot Buschan.

The rhythm of Barça coincided with the entry into the field of Demebélé, who brought a threat to the rival that until that moment was non-existent. Ansu’s goal again put the Blaugrana team to doubt between greatness and fear. There were 20 minutes of Calvary left. And yes, you couldn’t tell Barça’s legs trembled and Ter Stegen had to appear to avoid the draw in 81 against an already disheveled Dynamo that took Barça to the limit of agony.

Barça defended themselves and managed to take three points that combined with the defeat of Benfica in Munich leave the Catalans depending on themselves to go through the Champions League after going through an ordeal that Ansu Fati solved in a memorable rescue action.