Barcelona’s Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday will be postponed if another player from the Ukrainian club tests positive before the game.
La Blaugrana currently top Group G, having won their first two games against Ferencvaros and Juventus. A 2-0 win over the Italian giants saw Ronald Koeman’s men move three points clear at the top, putting themselves in a strong position for the remaining group games.
#UCL coming pic.twitter.com/HoQwQXbhHg
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) November 2, 2020
However, the Catalan club’s third group match is at high risk of being postponed as Dynamo Kyiv have included only 13 first-team players from their A list in the squad, as they have been affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Indeed, that was all they could manage and Mundo Deportivo reported that Wednesday’s clash would have to be postponed if one more player tested positive. The Kiev squad will be tested again on Tuesday to determine if it will be possible to go ahead with the game.
If another player tests positive, another date will need to be found for the fixture. The fact that this match is only the third group game for both clubs helps matters, as it allows more time to play the match. However, this match must be played before January 28.
Kiev are already without Nikolai Shaparenko, Aleksandr Karavev, Denis Garmash, Giorgoi Tsitsashvili, Mikal Dvelund and Tudor Baluta, who are currently on loan from Brighton. Along with this, assistant coach Emil Karas has also tested positive. To make matters worse, the club’s two first-choice goalkeepers are also unavailable for Wednesday’s Champions League game.
«Dinamo» bez 13 футболистев обойми вирушаје до Испания на матчик #BarselonaDinamo pic.twitter.com/XrIXdi27Qa
— FC Dynamo Kyiv (@DynamoKyiv) November 2, 2020
Mundo Deportivo added that there was concern that more players could test positive on Tuesday. This is because the entire squad trained together on Sunday (including the six players who later tested positive). With this in mind, Barcelona have since ‘demanded’ an immediate re-evaluation of the Dynamo squad.
Currently, Kiev are without a total of 13 players. Nine have tested positive for Covid-19, three players are out due to injury, while one player is suspended.
It remains to be seen if any more players have contracted the virus, but if the game goes ahead, Barca will be expected to dominate against a much weaker QV side.