Group E Champions League Piqué blows up the balloon

Barça is still alive in the Champions League after a goal from Piqué, which inflated the balloon of hope culé in Europe in the absolutely necessary victory of the culé team against Dinamo Kiev 1-0. A result that was founded on an acceptable first half with errors in the definition and a second in which the Blaugrana team fell and played with fire. But the balloon, which was punctured, seems to be taking flight.

In a match that presented heads or tails in an extreme situation, as evidenced by the fact that At the third game of the highest European competition, Barça was already playing the quarterfinals after signing a disastrous start With two lost games, six goals against and none for, Koeman surprised by giving Luuk de Jong the start and reserving Ansu and Kun from the start.

The Barça coach kept Dest as a right winger and it was the converted winger who first threatened the Ukrainian goal. But the problem is that the little American played the role that on the board seemed reserved for the tall De Jong. Dest finished off at the far post two balls centered by Alba (the first, excellent) that in principle should serve for the Dutchman to show his best quality.

Despite these first two plays, Luuk was Barcelona’s most dangerous element in the first half. First with a non-academic header to free-kick centered with the usual expertise for Memphis and then with a shot from the edge to which Buschan responded with a great save.

Dinamo, on the other hand, lived in retreat looking for the speed of its points in the counterattack, trying to exploit some of the recurring imbalances of the culé defense, which yesterday was completed by Clément Lenglet in the face of Araújo’s injury and Eric’s sanction .

But the irreplaceable center-back is still Gerard Piqué, who after 36 minutes of the game finished off the umpteenth center with danger from a Jordi Alba, who was in the assembly line plan, to score 1-0. Piqué gave Dest a practical lesson on how to finish coming from behind. It was Barcelona’s first goal in this edition of the Champions League.

With the slightest advantage, Barcelona clung to the hope of continuing in the fray in this competition, but the advantage did not invite to launch the bells to the flight.

To ensure the result, Koeman started the half with Ansu for Luuk de Jong, who gave the impression of having played to rest Ansu, and Coutinho for Mingueza. This change motivated the variation of the drawing so that the Brazilian played as a midfielder in his favorite place..

The presence of the youth squad was, as usual, much more revolutionary than that of the most expensive signing in the club’s history. Ansu was about to turn the stadium upside down after pressing a ball to the rival goalkeeper and trying to solve the play with a Chilean half that went out. The one who put his hands to his head in that play, by the way, was Koeman, who reproached the young player who did not have the break to enable Busquets or Coutinho, that they were absolutely alone with the entire goal at their disposal.

But that action by Barcelona marked a decline in the local game, who fell into a dangerous drowsiness. Dinamo, almost accidentally, began to approach Ter Stegen’s goal. The game was starting to get dangerous. And for dangerous, the distractions behind Lenglet, who in each action flirts with the penalty.

With the game on the wire and pending an accident after a terrible second half on both sides, Kun Agüero entered the field to see if he encouraged the respectable, but the situation continued in a flat encephalogram. Luckily for Barça, Dinamo did not react either. The Ukrainians left the Camp Nou with the reproach of what they could have done to be more ambitious, but for now Piqué inflated the balloon.