Despite taking an early lead, Dynamo Kyiv went down 1-2 to the reigning champions FC Barcelona in Kyiv in Wednesday's crucial UCL group stage match. Newly-crowned Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi scored a decisive goal in the 86th minute to secure top spot in Group F and ruin Dynamo’s hopes of further progress.
The White-Blues went into their Matchday 6 encounter needing a victory to take a second place in a tightly-contested Group F and continue their campaign. Surprisingly, it took just two minutes for them to take the lead, with forward Artem Milevskyy heading the ball in the net after Andriy Shevchenko's powerful cross-shot from the left into the area. But Pep Guardiola's side responded with a number of dangerous moments before Xavi drew Barca level in the 33rd minute.
After the interval the visitors still looked more dominant and continued to attack in search of the winner, but Valeriy Gazzaev's men stayed solid in defence. However, the White-Blues’ hopes were destroyed by Argentinean forward Lionel Messi, who hit a superb free-kick past Oleksandr Shovkovskyy with four minutes remaining to end Dynamo’s European season.Victory confirmed top spot for Barcelona ahead of FC Internazionale Milano and denied Dynamo of a place in the UEFA Europa League as they finished bottom of the section.
2009/2010 UEFA Champions League. Group stage. Matchday 6
DYNAMO – BARCELONA – 1:2 (1:1)
Dynamo: 1.Shovkovskyy, 3.Betão, 5.Vukojević, 7.Shevchenko, 10.Milevskyy – cap, 11.Eremenko, 17.Mykhalyk, 21.Magrão (36.Ninković, 75), 25.Yussuf, 44.Almeida, 70.Yarmolenko.
Barcelona: 1.Valdés, 2.Daniel Alves, 3.Piqué (4.Márquez, 88), 5.Puyol – cap, 6.Xavi, 8.Iniesta (17.Pedro, 82), 9.Ibrahimović, 10.Messi, 15.Keita, 16.Busquets, 22.Abidal.
Goals: Milevskyy (2) – Xavi (33), Messi (86).
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