AP Photo/David Ramos

Well the concern over Barcelona under estimating Rubin Kazan were warranted as the Russian side came into the Camp Nou and pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history. Kazan on paper definetely were over powered but after a surprise performance against Inter Milan in the Champions League people were beginning to take notice. After todays performance there is no doubt that Rubin Kazan is a serious threat in their group.

Rubin Kazan, who were last in Group F going into the match, got off to a lighting fast start needing just two minutes for Aleksandr Ryazantsev to get his side on the board. The goal for Kazan came off a bad pass from Rafa Marquez that was intercepted by Ryazantsev. Ryazantsev then sent the ball on a rocket shot from about 30 yards out into the top right corner of the goal putting it out of the reach of Victor Valdes.

The shocking early goal by Kazan silenced the Camp Nou as questions immediately began to enter their minds coming off a poor performance over the weekend at Valencia followed by a goal in the first two minutes of the Champions League against a team nobody has heard of.

A couple minutes following the Rubin Kazan goal Andres Iniesta fed Zlatan Ibrahimovic who almost equalized but the ball was knocked away by the Kazan keeper. Ibrahimovic followed that shot up a few minutes later with another attempt off a brilliant Lionel Messi setup but the striker could not get enough on the shot and it was easily defended by the keeper.

As the first half progressed tension built as Barcelona struggled to equalize sending shot after shot at the Kazan keeper with no result. Rubin Kazan countered just before halftime as Dominguez sent in a free kick that was well defended by Valdes and kept the lead at 1.

The second half started exactly the same as first but this time it was Barcelona who scored in the first two minutes as Ibrahimovic received a chest pass from Xavi and then sent a shot across the front of the goal into the lower left corner beating the keeper. The equalizer for Barcelona brought some relief as the team started to find their groove and it looked like Rubin Kazan were about to go down by a goal as both Messi and Ibrahimovic stepped up the offensive pressure.

In the 72nd minute Barcelona were shocked once again as Karadeniz Gokdeniz sent a one timer from inside the box past a defenseless Valdes.

Barcelona frantically tried to equalize as time was running out. A last second header from Yaya Toure in injury time hammered off the post and the final whistle sounded moments later sending a dejected Barcelona to the locker room.

The win by Rubin Kazan makes the top of Group F a log jam with Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev and Kazan all sitting on four points followed by Inter with three.

Filed under: Champions League, Game Results by admin