Barcelona struggle to pick up the pieces after summer of turmoil

Star player reluctantly still at club, president forced out, new manager struggling and a team sitting mid-table in La Liga – all is not well at Camp Nou

BARCA PLAYER RATINGS V DYNAMO KIEV: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, 9 – Returned from injury to make his first start of the season, and was Barca’s man of the match. He had very little to do early on, but he came to life when he was called into action to save well from Buyalskyi. He made further crucial saves to deny Supriaha and Tsygankov, and was unlucky to parry the ball into the path of Tsygankov for Kyiv’s consolation.
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Sergino Dest, 6 – The American looked dangerous going forward and was at his most potent when reaching the byline and cutting the ball back into the box, which he did several times. Was sometimes caught out on the break, though. AFP

Frenkie De Jong, 6 – Filled in at centre-back alongside Pique and had a difficult evening. Kyiv had plenty of clear-cut scoring chances and De Jong looked uncomfortable.
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Gerard Pique, 7 – Pique had to use all his experience in a tense end to the first half as Kyiv threatened to level with the score at 1-0. In the second half, he found himself in the right place at the right time to glance Fati’s cross to double Barca’s advantage. Looked to have handled the ball in a dangerous area late on, but the referee waved play on.
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Jordi Alba, 5 – A poor night for Alaba, who struggled to keep Kyiv’s depleted side under wraps. Barca looked vulnerable on the break but also on both flanks.
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Sergio Busquets, 5 – Barca’s midfield struggled to assert their authority on the game and Busquets was guilty of failing to keep possession. The match sometimes passed him by, and he was replaced in the second half.
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Miralem Pjanic, 6 – A frustrating evening for Pjanic who, while looking dangerous going forward, didn’t do enough to dominate in the middle. Doesn’t seem to be clicking when playing alongside Busquets.
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Pedri, 7 – The youngster was unlucky to find the net. First, after getting on the end of a pull-back from Dest, he thundered the ball against the bar. Then, just before the break, he failed to beat Neshcheret when he connected with another Dest cross. Getty

Ansu Fati, 8 – He was a constant menace on the left, going close and forcing a save from Neshcheret when he cut through both Kedziora and Tsygankov. Moments later, he headed just wide from a corner. He was most effective when cutting in from the left, and he did so again before crossing for Pique to head home Barca’s winner.

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Lionel Messi, 8 – Made his 150th European appearance for Barcelona and was dangerous all evening. He dictated the early play and was brought down in the fifth minute. He dusted himself off to convert from the spot for his fourth of the season, all of which have come from the penalty spot. Could have had more but for a fine performance from Neshcheret in the Kyiv goal.
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Antoine Griezmann, 6 – The Frenchman has been criticised for not contributing, but tonight he had opportunities to score. He came close early on and then missed from six yards with the goal gaping following Neshcheret’s save from Fati’s effort. That miss seemed to dent his confidence, and he went missing for much of the match thereafter. AP

SUBS: Ousmane Dembele (Griezmann, 60) 8 – Seems to make the best impact for the team when he comes on as a sub. He had a shot soon after entering the game, and he looked lively in the ten minutes he was on the field. Getty

Sergi Roberto (Pjanic 60) 6 – Came close with a header moments after coming on, but his effort was denied by Neshcheret from point-blank range. EPA

Clement Lenglet (Busquets 73) N/A – Came on in an attempt from Ronald Koeman to shore up the defence, but he gave away a lot of fouls, heaping more pressure on his teammates. Getty

Francisco Trincao (Fati 73) N/A – Had big shoes to fill when coming on to replace the impressive Fati, and struggled to get into the game. Getty

Carles Alena (Pedri 83) N/A – More game time for the 22-year-old. Endured a tense finish, but made few errors when coming on. Getty

Marc-Andre ter Stegen spent most of the last three months out of action. After a dispiriting August night in Lisbon – Bayern Munich 8 Barcelona 2 – the Barca goalkeeper underwent knee surgery.

In his absence, his club underwent various invasive procedures removing much of their leadership, although by the end of his first 90 minutes back, Ter Stegen could hardly help thinking how very little has changed.

Without him, Barcelona might have conceded four or five Dynamo Kiev goals at Camp Nou on Wednesday, the German keeper reminding anybody who had forgotten that, on form, he is peerless.

He made half a dozen high-class saves against a Dynamo missing six players because of positive coronavirus tests ahead of their trip to Catalonia in the Champions League.

At first, they looked horribly undermanned, carved apart and thankful to their third-choice keeper, Ruslan Neshcheret, for limiting Barca to a single first half goal.

By the end, Gerard Pique’s second-half header was the only difference in a 2-1 struggle of a win, Barca peaking early and then slumping alarmingly.

For Pique, the evening was much like the story of the club’s trajectory over the last few years. “It is obvious the tendency is downwards,” the club’s most candid dressing-room spokesman said, “and that every year we have got a bit worse. But we have been through a lot of changes”.

One of them took place 10 days ago, when the unpopular president Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned, heralding elections for his successor early in the new year. Two months earlier, a new manager, Ronald Koeman, was appointed. And the most important episode that Barcelona's brilliant goalkeeper watched from the sidelines was Lionel Messi trying and failing to leave.

Thanks to ter Stegen, Barcelona have maximum points in Europe so far. Domestically they are stuttering. Koeman has overseen Barca’s worst start to a La Liga campaign for 18 years, and they take on Real Betis on Saturday from a position in the bottom half of the table, albeit with matches in hand, and with a mere two points from the last 12 they have contested.

Koeman's frustrations are animating his touchline theatrics. At Alaves, where a nervous error from Ter Stegen's deputy, Neto, put Barcelona 1-0 behind last weekend, the Dutchman fumed as his players squandered chance after chance before and after Antoine Griezmann scored a long overdue goal. It finished 1-1.

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Barca 1 Real 3: clasico player ratings

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Four days later, more wastefulness had Koeman pacing, agitated, about his technical area again, Griezmann among those whose finishing was wayward against Dynamo.

But it was the imprecise passing and the lack of control that most perturbed him. Koeman, a hugely influential Barcelona player in the late 1980s and 1990s, knows better than most that careful use of the ball and domination by possession are what Barca regard as a trademark. “We left too much open space,” he said of the scare against Dynamo. “We have to be better when we don’t have the ball.”

Koeman is the third different man to take charge of Barca this calendar year, and must look at an imminent presidential election as a mixed blessing.

The dressing-room will be a happier place now that Bartomeu’s board are gone, but a new overlord very often means a new manager. One of the early favourites to be voted in as the next president, the businessman Victor Font, would like Xavi Hernandez, the former Barca captain now coaching Al-Sadd of Qatar, as part of his staff.

Font says he can imagine Xavi in a management role while Koeman continues in the dugout. That, though, would assume the Dutchman was thriving. A Barcelona manager who has lost his first clasico, at home, against Real Madrid, and won just two of his first six Liga games can hardly be said to be thriving.

He is yet to see his superstar score a goal from open play, either, Messi’s four from this season having all come from the penalty spot.

Granted, he captain was the fouled player for two of those penalties and his performances under Koeman have so far encouraged no suspicions Messi might not be as committed or capable of brilliance after his failed bid to leave.

What Messi has not seen is enough change around him to alter his view that Barcelona are far from the team he used to steer to regular European Cup success and long unbroken sequences of La Liga titles.

“It’s natural that we’re not considered top candidates,” said Pique. “All we can do is work hard, and the results will follow.”