7 things of note in Barcelona’s performance in Kyiv

Some would have expected Barcelona to struggle because they fielded a team majorly of bench warmers. On the contrary, they dominated the match in a way that the first team players couldn’t.

Here are 7 key to note in Barcelona’s performance today:

1) I can’t imagine what Braithwaite goes through. He was deemed unworthy of wearing the number 9 jersey, he was seen as surplus to requirement over the summer. No one made a move for him and he has to take his place on the bench watching on as Griezmann, who performs below average week-in, week-out and he knows he won’t get a chance.

What is his offense? He didn’t cost 120 million Euros. Braithwaite was impressive today and has made a bold claim for more game-time.

2) Oscar Mingueza wouldn’t have dreamt of playing for Barcelona this season but he would be very impressed with his own performance. He was way better than Lenglet and reminds me of Puyol.

He was composed at the back, solid in the air, good with the ball at his feet. He also timed his tackles and has great positional awareness. The assist for Braithwaite was intelligent.

Maybe Pique’s injury is a blessing in disguise. Can’t wait to see him play more games for Barcelona.

3) Alena was impressive today it had to be said, he started slowly but once he got into his rhythm, he was unplayable and totally took charge of that midfield. You can’t put such talents on the bench, play these boys!!!

4) Trincao better has more to his game than dribbles. He has a lot of work to do with his end product, he needs to stop spending so much time on the ball.

5) Dest is the kind of full back Barcelona is and his performance tonight showed this. The way he ran at the opposition with intent to create havoc was impressive.

His goal was well deserved and a great reward for his impressive performance.

6) Riqui Puig once again shows his class. It took him a couple of minutes to get in the groove, but once he did… he was just spraying passes left and right. I like the vision he has and his bravery, he is always looking to make things happen. I hope Koeman was paying attention.

7) This is the real Barcelona and these players need to be involved more in the game as they bring a dynamism into the team that we badly need.