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Barcelona traveled to Ukraine on Tuesday night to face Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League with a much changed squad.
Lionel Messi and Frenkie De Jong stayed at home, while injuries to Gerard Piqué, Samuel Umtiti and Ronald Araujo made Clement Lenglet the only senior center-back on the squad.
In addition, Sergio Busquets was injured in the service of Spain in the last international break, so Ronald Koeman also had few options in the middle of the park.
Despite this, the Catalans managed to produce an especially impressive performance in the second half to surprise their hosts and secure their passage to the knockout stages of the Champions League with two matches to spare.
Sergino Dest scored his first goal for the club, Martin Braithwaite pocketed an impressive double and Antoine Griezmann scored a lethal shot in injury time in a match that predicted great strength for the Catalans in depth.
Dest, speaking after the Mundo Deportivo match between dates, was visibly pleased with the night’s work. “It’s a perfect day,” he said. “I am very happy to score my first goal, the team played well and I think we did a great job.”
Dest started as a right-back in place of Sergi Roberto, who was injured against Atlético de Madrid at the weekend that will keep him out for the next few months. “I don’t like that Sergi is injured and I wish him a speedy recovery, but now that I have the opportunity to play I will try to do my best,” he said.
“I am the first American to score in the Champions League with Barcelona. It is a source of pride, even more so considering that it belongs to a club as big as Barcelona ”.
The next step for Barcelona is a clash with Osasuna at the Camp Nou on Sunday afternoon. The Catalans are currently 12 points behind the league leader, Real Sociedad, and only four points above the last Celta de Vigo. They will hope that victory in Ukraine can also be the catalyst for an internal resurgence.
Featured image courtesy of FC Barcelona.
