Barca secure top group spot for Champions League knockout stage

Reigning champions Barcelona clinched a place in the Champions League knockout stage with a 2-1 win over hosts Dynamo Kiev here on Wednesday, Lionel Messi netting an 86th-minute goal to secure top spot in their group.

Forward Artem Milevsky fired Kiev into an early lead, but Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez levelled 12 minutes before the break.

Dynamo, who desperately needed to win to continue their campaign, got off to a flying start through Milevsky, who beat Victor Valdes with a close-range header from Andrei Shevchenko’s well-struck freekick in the second minute.

The Spanish champions, who were seeking to hold off the challenge for first place from fellow qualifiers Inter Milan, replied positively, pinning the hosts back in attempt to level but to no immediate avail as Dynamo defended in numbers while relying on rare counter-attacks.

In the 13th minute, newly-crowned Ballon D’Or winner Messi missed a clear chance to level, when he received the ball after Dynamo ‘keeper Olexander Shovkovsky’s mixup and rushed into the hosts box.

However, Shovkovsky managed to correct his error, parrying the Argentinian forward’s shot.

Barca kept on probing, keeping Shovkovsky busy, and they pulled level in the 33rd minute, when Xavi redirected Eric Abidal’s left-handed cross into the net from close range.

After interval the guests still looked more dominant, although in the 54th minute Dynamo had another chance for a goal, Milevsky failing to score his second of the match in sending a close-range header just wide from Shevchenko’s freekick out on the left.

Barcelona then seized their moment as Messi fired home a precise freekick with four minutes to go, dashing Kiev’s hopes of further progress.