Barcelona vs Dynamo Kiev: Europe is another story

Barcelona have a fantastic opportunity to book themselves a spot in the last 16 of the Champions League when they face Dynamo Kiev at the Camp Nou on Tuesday night. A win for the Catalans would mean they would have taken maximum points from the first three match days, and would all but guarantee them a place in the knockout stages.

Barcelona are heavy favourites coming into the game, and their Ukrainian opponents are not helped by the fact that they are missing a number of key players who have contracted coronavirus. In fact, Kiev's squad is so decimated, that the match is likely to be suspended should anymore players contract the virus in the build-up to the game.

Although the Catalan giants have struggled in LaLiga Santander so far, their form in Europe has been nothing short of convincing. Ferencvaros managed to keep Barcelona at bay for the first 30 minutes of the game, but the Hungarian champions completely collapsed after conceding the first goal. Barcelona were even more convincing last time out against Juventus, when the team gave their best performance so far under Ronald Koeman, running out 2-0 victors in Turin courtesy of goals from Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi.

Therefore, the problem lies not in Europe, but instead in La Liga where inconsistency has cost Barcelona, as seen in Saturday's disappointing 1-1 draw with Deportivo Alaves.  In the past four LaLiga Santander games, the Catalans have taken just two points out of a possible twelve, after defeats against Getafe and Real Madrid in El Clasico. Koeman has prioritised meritocracy over age by giving youngsters Ansu Fati and Pedri a chance to earn their place in the starting line-up.

The team has no doubt offered signs of improvement since Quique Setien's disastrous spell in charge, however, they have not yet been consistent enough.

Despite being joint-top scorers in Europe with seven alongside Manchester United, their main problem so far in LaLiga Santander has been scoring goals, an issue they are not familiar with. The Catalans have squandered numerous chances to win those four league games, and the onus is on Messi and Antoine Griezmann to come up with the vital goals.

Both have scored just one LaLiga Santander goal this season, with Griezmann getting his first against Alaves last time out, a far cry away from what has come to be expected of both. Barcelona will welcome the return of first choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to the playing squad, after second choice Neto cost them all three points on Saturday night in Alaves.