Lionel Messi's early penalty and Gerard Pique's second-half header saw Barcelona salvage a 2-1 win over Dynamo Kiev in Champions Leagues group stage action on Tuesday.
Playing against the Ukrainian side that had saw multiple players and staff members out due to COVID-19 positive cases, Barcelona played an uneven match that forced Marc-Andre ter Stegen to make several key saves throughout the match.
Messi gave the hosts the lead barely five minutes into the match when he was tripped inside the box, burying the spot-kick into the bottom corner of the net.
Barca peppered Dynamo reserve goalkeeper Ruslan Neshcheret's net on several instances, while Dynamo playmaker Gerson Rodrigues in turn forced Ter Stegen to have a busy night.
In the second half, Neshcheret made a fine leaping save on a Messi free-kick to the top corner but was then unlucky in the 65th minute to keep out Pique's towering header from Ansu Fati's serve.
Moments later, Germany keeper Ter Stegen found himself one-on-one with Viktor Tsygankov and aptly gobbled out the close-range shot.
But the visitors weren't to be denied for the hard-nosed performance, with Tsygankov pouncing on the ball in the 75th minute after Ter Stegen parried Benjamin Verbic's first attempt.
Source: espn.co.uk