Result: Slavia Praha 1-2 FC Barcelona
Date: 23 October 2019
Venue: Eden Arena
FC Barcelona surged to the top of the Group F with a 2-1 triumph over Slavia Praha in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening.
Jordi Alba started his first UEFA Champions League encounter for Barca this season as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann continued to lead the line as a front trio pairing.
Barca made the perfect start on three minutes as Messi became the recipient of a return pass from Arthur Melo to slot past Ondrej Kolar.
Marc Andre Ter Stegen preserved momentum with the Catalans following a terrific block from Jaroslav Zeleny's first-time effort after a neat move 20 minutes gone.
Advantage remained with Praha eight minutes to halftime as consecutive efforts from Lukas Masopust and Peter Olayinka produced the best out of Ter Stegen.
Praha went for fire power at the start of the second half, after bringing on Stanislav Tecl for Zeleny with Barca remaining unchanged.
The Czechs levelled five minutes from resumption when Masopust feed Jan Boril, who made no mistake with a powering poke beyond Ter Stegen.
However, Barca regained advantage seven minutes later after Messi's free-kick found Suarez whose effort deflected in off Olayinka and into an unguarded net.
Slavia almost levelled immediately when Tomas Soucek went straight down the throat of Ter Stegen with a header, but the effort failed to trouble the German.
The Catalans turned to the bench and brought on Ousmane Dembele for Griezmann, as Ernesto Valverde looked to kill off the contest 20 minutes to full-time.
Messi missed the opportunity to bag a second and Barca's third 15 minutes to end as he failed to connect with Sergio Busquets cushion delivery from close range.
