Champions League | Barcelona beats Dynamo Kyiv; cruises to knockout stage

Juventus labours past Ferencvaros while last-gap goals see Chelsea and Sevilla through

November 25, 2020 03:49 am | Updated 09:49 pm IST - KYIV

Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring a goal during the Champions League match against Dynamo Kyiv, in Kyiv on November 24, 2020.

Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring a goal during the Champions League match against Dynamo Kyiv, in Kyiv on November 24, 2020.

Chelsea and Sevilla registered last-gasp wins to book a berth in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday, while Martin Braithwaite netted a brace in Barcelona’s 4-0 victory at Dynamo Kiev as the Catalans too secured a place in the knockout rounds.

Juventus joined Barcelona in qualifying from Group G but the Italian champion needed a stoppage-time header from substitute Alvaro Morata to beat Ferencvaros 2-1 in Turin and seal its progress. Albanian international Myrto Uzuni had put the Hungarians ahead before Ronaldo drilled home the equaliser before half-time.

There was no Lionel Messi for Barcelona, with the Argentine rested for the trip to Ukraine, but Ronald Koeman’s side got the job done to make it four wins from four in Group G.

All the goals came in the second half, with Sergino Dest opening the scoring before Danish striker Braithwaite added another and also converted a penalty to make it 3-0.

Antoine Griezmann, on as a substitute, wrapped up the win on a night when young centre-back Oscar Mingueza, Brazilian midfielder Matheus Fernandes and teenage American winger Konrad de la Fuente were blooded in the Barcelona first team.

Chelsea advanced from Group E after edging Rennes 2-1 in France. Olivier Giroud came off the bench to head home an injury-time winner after Serhou Guirassy had cancelled out Callum Hudson-Odoi’s breakaway opening goal.

Sizeable crowd

Last season’s Europa League winner Sevilla will not get to defend its trophy as it reached the last 16 of Europe’s elite competition with a 2-1 win over Krasnodar in Russia in a game played before a sizeable crowd.

Ivan Rakitic’s strike had put the LaLiga side in front only for Brazilian Wanderson to equalise. However, Munir El Haddadi won it for Sevilla five minutes into added time.

Sevilla and Chelsea were both on 10 points and Frank Lampard’s side goes to Spain next week, the winner securing top spot.

Borussia Dortmund needs just one more point to qualify from Group F following a 3-0 win over Club Brugge as the prolific Haaland netted twice either side of a Jadon Sancho free-kick.

The results: Group E: Krasnodar 1 (Wanderson 56) lost to Sevilla 2 (Rakitic 4, El Haddadi 90+5); Rennes 1 (Guirassy 85) lost to Chelsea 2 (Hudson-Odoi 22, Giroud 90+1).

Group F: Borussia Dortmund 3 (Haaland 18 & 60, Sancho 45+1) bt Club Brugge 0; Lazio 3 (Immobile 3 & 55-pen, Parolo 22) bt Zenit St. Petersburg 1 (Dzyuba 25) .

Group G: Dynamo Kiev 0 lost to Barcelona 4 (Dest 52, Braithwaite 57 & 70-pen, Griezmann 90+2); Juventus 2 (Ronaldo 35, Morata 90+2) bt Ferencvaros 1 (Uzuni 19).

Group H: Manchester United 4 (Fernandes 7 & 19, Rashford 35-pen, James 90+2) bt Istanbul Basaksehir 1 (Turuc 75); PSG 1 (Neymar 11-pen) bt RB Leipzig 0.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.