Barcelona vs. Dynamo Kiev at Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain 4:45 PM EST Tuesday September 29, 2009
By Jason Green at Predictem.com
On Tuesday night the defending Champions League champions Barcelona host the Group F leaders Dynamo Kiev. After one match Dynamo Kiev have the lead in the group stage, which is not expected to last long. As it stands now Dynamo Kiev has 3 points with Barcelona and Inter Milan with 1 point and Rubin Kazan at 0 points.
Barcelona has made one major move in the off-season signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as Samuel Eto’o switched to Inter Milan while La Liga rival Real Madrid spent 250 million to try to move into the elite ranks in the Champion League and take away the La Liga title from Barcelona. However, since the beginning of the season Barcelona has not skipped a beat not dropping any points in the Spanish league and playing to a draw in Milan to Inter Milan in their first Champions League group match.
Dynamo Kiev is the heavy underdog in this match, but they are the group leaders right now after beating Russian squad Rubin Kazan in the first match. Kiev are not in awe of the elite clubs, as they have won the Ukrainian league title 13 times, which is record, and were tops in the USSR championship with 11 title wins, but in Europe they cannot stand up to Barcelona. Even though Dynamo is the big underdog in this away match they will be no pushover.
It may be on the mind if both squads that the last time Barcelona lost in European competition was to a side from Ukraine, as they lost 3-2 to Shakhtar Donetsk.
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To say Barcelona are the heavy favorites in this match is a major understatement, as they are posted at 1.15 with Dynamo posted at 17.00 with a draw at 8.00.
Barcelona Recent Form:
9/26/2009 Malaga 0 Barcelona 2 (La Liga)
9/22/2009 Racing Santander 1 Barcelona 4 (La Liga)
9/19/2009 Barcelona 5 Atletico Madrid 2 (La Liga)
9/16/2009 Inter Milan 0 Barcelona 0 (Champions League)
9/12/2009 Getafe 0 Barcelona 2 (La Liga)
Dynamo Kiev Recent Form:
9/25/2009 Dynamo Kiev 2 Zorya 0 (Ukrainian League)
9/20/2009 Metalist 1 Dynamo Kiev 2 (Ukrainian League)
9/16/2009 Dynamo Kiev 3 Rubin Kazan 1 (Champions League)
9/12/2009 Metalist 0 Dynamo Kiev 1 (Ukrainian Cup)
8/31/2009 Metalurh Donetsk 1 Dynamo Kiev 3 (Ukrainian League)
Thierry Henry will probably not play in this match since he has a pulled muscle, which happened in the Malaga match over the weekend. If he cannot go look for Andres Iniesta to take his spot on the left flank. Dmytro Chygrynskiy will not play in the match due to injury.
Andriy Shevchenko had a facial injury recently, but it will take a lot more than that to make him miss this match. Taras Mikhalik, Oleksandr Rybka, Badr El Kaddouri and Andriy Nesmachniy are all out for this match due to injury, but Olexandr Aliyev is back and is available for this match after being out for 2 months recovering from an injury to his ankle.
In the past few years Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been solid for Inter Milan in Serie A play, but he has been a ghost in Champions League play. He looks to change that with his new team Barcelona and he is still one of the most prolific goal scorers in the world.
Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta is just getting match fit, but even with all the huge names on the Spanish side he is instrumental to the home squad’s success.
Dynamo are hoping that Andriy Shevchenko can still be a world-class striker even though he is at the end of his celebrated career. He will be the main guy that Barca has to worry about. Shevchenko has recently said his team can cause a surprise in this match, but that is a big task.
Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto’o lead a stellar Barca offense that has already scored 16 goals in only 5 La Liga matches. What is even more impressive may be their defense, which has only given up 3 goals.
Dynamo will be more than happy with a draw and because of that look for them to drop a few of their midfielders back on defense.
The only chance Dynamo may have is to get a quick counter attack against the Spanish giants. However, Dynamo has a solid midfield so if they can keep possession of the ball they have an outside chance in this match.
Jason’s Pick: Dynamo does not have much of a chance at Camp Nou and with good reason, as they are out-matched on all areas of the pitch. Look for Dynamo to put up a good fight, but it will not be enough, as Barcelona’s offense is just way to much and they will win this match 2-0 or 3-0.