Koeman Gives Sole Credit To Star Player For Barcelona’s 2-1 Win In Champions League

Ronald Koeman said goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was "phenomenal" and his performance helped FC Barcelona defeat Dynamo Kyiv in their Champions League meeting Wednesday.

Barcelona beat Kyiv 2-1 and remained at the top of Group G in the 2020-21 Champions League with nine points ahead of Juventus on six points, Kyiv, and Ferencvaros on one point each. Ter Stegen, who underwent a knee injury in August, had not featured for the Catalans at the start of the 2020-21 season.

As a result, Barcelona have made their worst start to a La Liga season in 18 years, having won only two games in their opening eight matches. The Koeman-managed Barcelona are currently placed 12th in the La Liga table with eight points.

The German goalkeeper returned in time for the Kyiv fixture and made an impact immediately. Speaking at the post-match interview, Koeman hailed the 28-year-old Ter Stegen.

"He has proved to be a great goalkeeper for us. He has been training well and we can see that today. We started the match well and quickly made it 1-0, but we were unable to find the second goal and then lost control. Thanks to Marc, who has been phenomenal, we managed to keep the opposition out, " Koeman was quoted by Goal, as saying.

The two goals were netted by Lionel Messi, who scored a fifth-minute penalty, and Gerard Pique. Even though Barcelona are on the verge of making it to the Last 16 of the 2020-21 Champions League, Koeman in the same interview struggled to find many positives.

"We have to play better and improve the game without the ball. Today we did not do that well. In general, we had been good defensively. But today they put us in danger and we must talk about that and improve our game without the ball,” added Koeman.

Barcelona’s next fixture is a home game against Real Betis in La Liga Saturday before they travel to the Spanish capital to take on Atletico Madrid on Nov. 22 in the league.