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A 28th minute header from Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique was enough to claim all the 3 points, as the hosts beat Cyprus outfit APOEL Nicosia 1-0.It was a revamped Barcelona side, with several new players making it to the starting XI who still had to work very hard to churn out a win, as the visitors put up some resilient defense and managed to stave off Barcelona’s onslaught.Across the slideshow, we examine the 5 talking points of the game.
#1 A victory not worth celebrating for an underwhelming Barcelona
The vigour which was seen in Barcelona’s opening game of the season against Elche in the league, seems to have waned upto some extent as they struggled to get past an obdurate APOEL side.
In the first half, Barcelona had only 4 shots on target and all of them were brilliantly saved by APOEL goalkeeper Urko Pardo. Midway through the first half, the home side won a free-kick which Messi delightfully curled in from the right, bending it goalwards, and Piqué headed in from the edge of the six-yard box. And the Spanish giants should have gone two up in the 40th minute when Messi uncharacteristically hit straight at Pardo following Neymar's pull back.
They started the second half in exactly the same way as the first- with a torrent of attacks. However, the best chance of the half fell to the 19-year old Sandro, who narrowly shot the ball wide from outside the box.
With a staggering 72% of ball possession and 91% passing accuracy, the scoreline should have been much more than just 1-0.
#2 4th successive cleansheet
Although the Barcelona attackers misfired, the other end of the pitch seems to be well functioning, as they kept a cleansheet for the 4th successive match.
Starting from the inaugral day of the 2014-15 campaign last month against Elche to date, Barcelona are yet to concede a goal despite several changes at the back. For the first three, Claudio Bravo was the man guarding the post, where Ter Stegen was given the nod ahead of the former for the Champions League match against APOEL. He made a few excellent clearances and was composed thoughout the game.
The defensive quartet of Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Marc Bartra and Adriano Correia were astute in their work and successfully prevented the net from being invaded by APOEL attackers.
#3 Xavi equals Raul for the most number of appearances
With this fixture, Xavi is now the player with most number of appearances in Champions League, a record shared with him by former Real Madrid veteran, Raul.
The midfield maestro made his first Champions League appearance back in 1998 against Mancheser United in the group stage and since then, has gone on to make 141 appearances more for Barcelona.
Soon to be 35, the Barcelona ace is still going strong, and will help the team during this transitionary season.
#4 Lionel Messi doesn\'t need to score to star
Following a brace on the opening day of the season in the league, Messi has registered a blank in the next 3 games but still remains the focal point of the Barcelona squad.
All the last 3 goals scored by the Catalans have been provided by Messi himself. It was Messi who set-up both the goals for Neymar in their 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao last weekend and now, in the Champions League, it was Messi’s exquisite free-kick which Gerard Pique headed into the net neatly.
He had started the season with a bang and will now try to look to resume his goalscoring when they travel to Valencia to take on Levante in the league.
#5 New players, same result
From the squad that started against Atheltic Bilbao last week, only Messi and Sergio Samper were retained in the starting XI for the APOEL clash.
Manager Luis Enrique made as many as 9 changes prior to the game, bringing in several young and fresh faces. Marc Andre ter Stegen was brought in, whereas at the back, Bartra, Dani Alves, Adriano Correia and Pique replaced Alba, Montoya, Mathieu and Mascherano, all of whom had started against Bilbao.
Sergi Roberto and Sergi Samper came in for Iniesta and Rakitic, whereas the trio of Neymar, Munir and Messi spearheaded the attack.
