Young Barca pass first test

It is a well-rehearsed cliche that there are no easy games in European football but, without patronising clearly inferior opposition, it was entirely predictable that Luis Enrique, taking charge of his first Champions League game, would radically revise his line-up for the visit to Camp Nou of Cypriot minnows APOEL.

Making nine changes from the side that defeated Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, the Coach nevertheless fielded Lionel Messi and Neymar in attack as well as a pair of experienced attacking full-backs in Adriano and Dani Alves. Enrique also handed German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen his Barcelona debut.

Tyro striker Munir El Haddadi added to a front three while youngsters Sergio Roberto, Sergi Samper, Sandro Ramirez and Rafinha all featured, but Enrique also had Gerard Pique in the backline and Xavi Hernandez – making his 142nd Champions League appearance – in midfield. It was a largely youthful and much-changed line-up, maybe, but by no means a weak one.

APOEL have garnered significant Champions League experience in recent seasons and there is no doubt that Enrique was walking a tightrope between assurance of victory and risk of humiliation with his team selection. Barcelona had already defeated HJK Helsinki, the side that APOEL had eliminated to reach this stage, 6-0 in a pre-season friendly, and defeat was never a realistic prospect. Barca were comfortable throughout, but risk almost became reality when Ter Stegen saved well from Rafik Djebbour in the last minute.

In shuffling his pack, Enrique will have had on his mind the rigorous demands of a season in which improvement and delivery of trophies is an expectation rather than a hope after a barren last term under Tata Martino. He will also not need reminding that neither of Barca’s other two group stage opponents, Paris Saint-Germain and Ajax, will be a pushover and that results against them will determine Barca’s fate in the competition.

The Dutch champions inflicted the Catalans’ first defeat of last season, bringing to an end an unbeaten run of twenty-eight games, while the Parisians will revive memories of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s unhappy sojourn at Camp Nou and his less than harmonious relationship with Pep Guardiola.

It was a familiar story last night as Barcelona enjoyed more than 70 per cent of possession and had six shots on target to the visitors’ solitary effort, but with a performance that was at times disjointed – hardly surprising in light of the radical team changes – the only goal came from a set-piece, Pique heading in Messi’s first-half free-kick from close range.

Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao struggled to break down resolute Shakhtar Donetsk, the Ukrainians holding Ernesto Valverde’s men to a goalless draw at San Mames. The result was a disappointment for Athletic, whose progression from a group that also contains Porto alongside Belarusian make-weights BATE Borisov is far from certain, especially if they drop further points at home. 

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