Article by Audrey Nolan
In a great night for Barcelona and Inter Milan; both have qualified to the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League for Group D. Barcelona kept first place by defeating Dynamo Kiev and Inter defeated Rubin Kazan where a dramatic performance of good football was shown in both matches.
Barcelona played the Dynamo Kiev, and as in most of Barca’s games, Messi was the star of the night bringing victory to him team once again. The nightmarish beginning for Barcelona thankfully gave way as the game advanced. The game started with a goal by Dynamo giving an early lead to the Ukraine team on a free kick sealed by Andriy Shevchenko’s powerful cross-shot into the area taken by Milevskiy’s head before escaping the clutches of Victor Valdes and rolling over the line. Valdes lamented his failure to stop the kick, but admittedly it was quite a difficult catch for the goalkeeper.
This set up the first goal of the game and gave hope to the Dynamo team, who were fighting for a spot in the European League. Their position was not good since they were three points behind the leader Barcelona and one point behind Inter and Rubin Kazan. A draw was all they needed to gain a spot, but alas it didn’t work out.
Barcelona found their rhythm on minute 33′ when Xavi Alonso scored the draw goal with a pass from Eric Abidal. Even though Barca dominated the rest of the first half, there were no more goals and the half time break was set by a draw. In the second half, once again Dynamo had a dynamic start, but didn’t score. With hopes set on a draw, Dynamo kept a tight defense the rest of the game, but ended with a sour note as Messi scored the victory goal with an amazing 25-yard free kick.
On the other hand, Inter was the winner on a game against a difficult rival, Rubin Kazan. The Italian team played very well and was later rewarded with the victory and a spot in the European League despite of having Walter Samuel injured just 16 minutes after the match started.
Inter surged in the first half on minute 33′ when Samuel Eto’o was able to score the first goal of the game after he received a pass from Balotelli, that proved a perfect assistance to the Brazilian to set up the goal. That play gave the confidence team that the team needed. After the first goal, Inter was forced to defend as Rubin Kazan was looking for the draw goal. They had opportunities but were not successful at the end.
Mario Balotelli then gave the final goal with a free kick again to seal the victory for Inter on minute 64. At times, it appeared that Inter would take the game 3-0 as they were playing so well, but it finally ended at 2-0.
At the end, Group D finished with Barcelona and Inter Milan along with Rubin Kazan advancing in the European League and the knock out stage of the Champions League. We will have to wait and see if Barca again takes the title as it seems that they have proven by far that they are the best team in Europe.
About the Author
Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer for the UEFA Soccer Games games as well as thesports betting industry updates for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.