In a strange irony that reveals the extent of Barcelona’s failure in
the Spanish League this season, the team’s balance of points in
the Champions League exceeds its score in the domestic championship,
although it has played twice as many matches in the latter.
Barcelona has collected 12 points in the European competition
from 4 games, compared to 11 points in the Spanish League
from 8 matches.
In addition, the total goals scored by the Catalan team in 8
league matches (15) are just two more than their goals in the
Champions League (13).
Despite the team’s triumphant march in the Champions League,
where it achieved the full mark by winning 4 out of 4 meetings,
Barcelona are in thirteenth place in the league, in one of their worst
domestic starts in years.
On Tuesday, Barcelona’s young squad, without star Lionel Messi,
crushed its host Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine, with a quarter-clean finish,
to ensure the team reached the Round of 16 for the seventh group.
The goals of the team were scored by Sergio Dist, who scored
the net for the first time with Barcelona, then Martin Braithwaite
with two consecutive goals, and finally, substitute Antoine Griezmann.
Barcelona, under the leadership of Dutch coach Ronald Koeman,
is preparing to form a new team, with a gradual reduction in reliance
on Messi, 33, who will likely leave at the end of the current season.
