Barcelona seal important Champions League victory amid Pedri injury concern | OneFootball

Slavia Prague 2-4 Barcelona

Barcelona kept alive their hopes of a top 8 finish in the Champions League, as they came from behind to defeat Slavia Prague at Fortuna Arena.

Barcelona were without the services of Lamine Yamal for the visit to the Czech Republic, with him being suspended. And to make matters more difficult, the home side opened the scoring inside 10 minutes, after a corner from the right was flicked on to the back post for Slavia striker Vasil Kusej to bundle the ball home.

Barcelona grew into the game after that, and their reward was the equalising goal. Frenkie de Jong played in Fermin Lopez, who slammed home at the near post – it is a moment that Slavia goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek will not want to see again, as he was too easily beaten.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Catalans would go ahead, and it was Fermin that struck again. He collected the ball 25 yards out, and his effort was brilliantly curled into the corner of the Slavia net, leaving Stanek with no chance.

The home side equalised before half time, much to the fury of Hansi Flick. A corner from the right flew past Joan Garcia via the head of Robert Lewandowski, who scored his first-ever own goal in the Champions League.

That meant Barcelona went into the interval level, and to make matters worse, they were forced to take off Pedri soon after half time. The talismanic midfielder had to be replaced after suffering a hamstring injury, which will be a concern. However, it was his replacement that made it 3-2, as Dani Olmo collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area before curling an unstoppable effort into the top corner.

Image via Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images

Soon after, Lewandowski scored at the right end to make it 4-2, scoring his 106th Champions League goal in the process – and his first of the season. After great work from substitute Marcus Rashford, the Polish striker finished at the second attempt.

Barcelona have top 8 hopes in their own hands

The result means that Barcelona are 9th in the league phase standings on 13 points, but with Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United, who are directly ahead of them, playing each other next week, it means that a win by enough goals would see them secure a place in the top 8.