Ronald Koeman credits Marc-Andre ter Stegen for Barcelona win over Dynamo Kyiv
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman thanked "phenomenal" Marc-Andre ter Stegen for his part in Barcelona's narrow 2-1 win over Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday, and acknowledged that his side have plenty of work to do.
Barcelona made it three wins from three in Group G of the UEFA Champions League courtesy Lionel Messi's first half penalty and Gerard Pique's header.
However, Marc-Andre ter Stegen had to make six saves against a Dynamo Kyiv side which was depleted by a coronavirus outbreak in their camp, to preserve the win. Ter Stegen's saves included a top-class reaction to deny Vitaliy Buyalskiy.
Viktor Tsygankov eventually found a way past Barcelona's German goalkeeper, but the Blaugrana saw out the victory which took them top of their Champions League group ahead of Juventus.
Ronald Koeman singles out Marc-Andre ter Stegen as Barcelona's best player in victory over Dynamo Kyiv
Koeman singled out Marc-Andre ter Stegen as Barcelona's best player following the game and heaped praise on him.
"He has proved to be a great goalkeeper for us. He has been training well and we can see that today," Koeman told Movistar after the game.
"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 position out," he added.
Other than Ter Stegen's heroics, Koeman struggled to find too many positives from his side's performance yesterday. He said:
"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."
Despite their lack of defensive solidity, the Catalan giants are well on their way to the Champion League Round of 16. They are three points better off than second place Juventus, and have an eight-point advantage on Ferencvaros and Dynamo Kyiv.
Barcelona have, however, not been able to carry their brilliant form in Europe into La Liga. The club have been dismal in the Spanish league, making their worst start to a season in 18 years.
Barcelona currently sit in 12th place in the La Liga table and have won just one of their last five games.
Ronald Koeman took over a Barcelona team that was going through turmoil on and off the pitch, and will be given some time to make changes at the club. However, he will be expected to have a more immediate effect.