BARCELONA HAVE QUALIFIED for the Champions League last 16 with two games to spare as Martin Braithwaite scored twice in a 4-0 win over Dynamo Kiev.
Lionel Messi was among a handful of key players rested for Barca but Braithwaite’s double, as well as goals from Sergino Dest and substitute Antoine Griezmann saw the Catalans safely through, joining Juventus in progressing from Group G.
First and second place are still to be settled, with Barcelona playing away at Ferencváros next week before a potential decider at home to Juve, who beat the Hungarian side 2-1 in Turin thanks to a late Alvaro Morata winner.
There will certainly be tougher opponents than Dynamo to navigate but the 21-year-old Oscar Mingueza was composed and may be trusted again given Barcelona’s current shortage in defence. Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Ronald Araujo are all out injured.
Braithwaite certainly did his case no harm by taking his total number of goals for Barca from one to three in 13 minutes, the second a penalty, and a deserved return for a tireless performance up front.
Victory also continues Barca’s excellent form in Europe, which comes in stark contrast to their struggles in La Liga, where they sit 12th in the table following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid.
Dynamo were also depleted, without their top scorer Viktor Tsyhankov, who was ill, and they never really threatened their opponents like they did in the return fixture last month.
They will now battle Ferencvaros for third place and qualification for the Europa League.
The opening goal came from an unlikely source as Dest fired a pass into Carles Alena and while the ball was returned to Braithwaite on the edge of the box, Dest took over, carrying it into his stride and shooting into the far corner for his first goal for the club.
Braithwaite’s time would come five minutes later as he finished off Alena’s corner at the back post and then he made it three from the penalty spot, after being pushed in the back by Denys Popov as he tried to head in Alba’s cross.
Popov had already blazed wide what was perhaps Dynamo’s best chance at the back post while Koeman had made changes bringing on Griezmann, Alba and Riqui Puig.
Puig should have added a fourth but skied Dest’s cutback over before Griezmann did, capping a lively cameo by driving in and rounding off a comfortable victory.
Meanwhile, Alvaro Morata grabbed a late winner with Cristiano Ronaldo also scoring as Juventus qualified for the Champions League last 16 with a 2-1 win over Ferencváros.
Myrto Uzuni had given the Hungarians a shock 19th-minute lead in the Group G clash in Turin.
But Ronaldo rifled in the equaliser on 35 minutes for his first Champions League goal this season, extending his record to 131 goals in the competition.
And Spaniard Morata came off the bench to seal victory two minutes into injury time with his fifth group-stage goal this term.
Andrea Pirlo has achieved his first objective as Juventus coach having taken over from Maurizio Sarri after the Italians crashed out of the Champions League in the last 16 to Lyon last season.
Ferencvaros pushed the Italian champions hard as they chased their first group-stage win since 1995, having lost the home encounter 4-1 in Budapest.
Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci were out injured with the Juventus defence made up of Danilo, Matthijs de Ligt, Alex Sandro and Juan Cuadrado.
Paulo Dybala, wearing the captain’s armband, started up front alongside Ronaldo.
Ronaldo set up the Argentine for the first shot on goal after quarter of an hour, but goalkeeper Denes Dibusz blocked the close-range effort.
And it was the visitors who broke through four minutes later, with Uzuni turning in Tokmac Nguen’s deflected cross.
Ronaldo had a goal ruled out for offside on 33 minutes but moments later he made no mistake, creating space with a neat turn outside the area before drilling home a powerful left-footed shot that gave Dibusz no chance.
The Portuguese, who missed the first two European games this season with coronavirus, brought his tally to 70 Champions League goals at home, level with Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
He was denied a second before the hour mark, with Federico Bernardeschi also going close just after, rattling the woodwork.
Pirlo made a triple substitution after the hour with Morata, Federico Chiesa and Dejan Kulusevski coming on place of Dybala, Bernardeschi and Weston McKennie.
Morata had an immediate impact, sending the ball through for Ronaldo but Dibusz held firm.
The Spaniard missed a chance 10 minutes from time, hitting the woodwork after meeting Chiesa’s cross.
But the former Atletico Madrid striker got his head to a Juan Cuadrado cross, with the ball slipping in under Dibusz.
Group G Results:
Dynamo Kiev 0-4 Barcelona
Juventus 2-1 Ferencváros
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