Barcelona vs Dynamo Kyiv

Barcelona and Dynamo Kyiv are set to exchange tackles at Camp Nou in a must-win UEFA Champions League Group E fixture.

Barcelona started their Champions League campaign with a whimper rather than a bang, suffering a brace of 3-0 defeats to Bayern Munich and Benfica, and can ill-afford another slip-up here if they are to qualify for the knock-outs. However, the Catalan heavyweights head into proceedings amid the club’s worst-ever three-match losing home streak in European football, which is as many reverses as they had in their previous 74 Champions League fixtures at Camp Nou (W59, D12, L3). With his future in La Liga hanging by a thread, under-fire manager Ronald Koeman will be desperate to maintain Barcelona’s four-match winning H2H streak in the Champions League. A come-from-behind 3-1 home win over Valencia should inspire Barca’s efforts to bring a dreadful five-game winless Champions League run to a halt (D1, L4).

On the other hand, Dynamo Kyiv slumped to a humiliating 5-0 away loss to Bayern Munich on Matchday 2 after holding Benfica to a scoreless draw in their Group E curtain-raiser. The Ukrainians sit four points adrift of the coveted runner-up finish heading into this encounter, as current boss Mircea Lucescu hopes to improve his underwhelming Champions League away record in charge of Dynamo (D1, L3). That could be easier said than done, considering Lucescu has suffered seven defeats in his ten managerial matches against Barcelona in Europe’s elite competition (W2, D1). Despite inflicting the heaviest European defeat on Barca at Camp Nou (4-0 in November 1997), Dynamo’s chances of avoiding their first four consecutive Champions League away losses since 2006 look slim. Any hopes of managing that feat will hinge on the visitors’ ability to score their first Champions League goal this season.