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In posting their inaugural victory of the premier European club competition, Rubin Kazan resurrects its hopes for advancement as they are now in a three-way tie for the top spot in the group.
Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola was pleased to see Zlatan Ibrahimović shake off a recent injury sustained whilst on international duty but the defending La Liga champions were shocked with an early goal by the opportunistic Rubin.
With the capacity crowd still filtering into their seats, Alexandr Ryazantsev latched onto a ball that escaped Yaya Touré's touch and hammered a brilliant right-footed shot in from thirty-two metres two minutes into the contest. Fighting for the equalizer the hosts controlled the ball throughout the balance of the half but Rubin's resolute defending proved too much for the Spanish giants.
Rubin 'keeper Sergey Ryzhikov was pressed into action thereafter but he made short work out Zlatan Ibrahimović's attempts and pulled off a brilliant save of young-gun Pedro Rodríguez, who was starting in place of the injured Thierry Henry. Despite their top-flight defending Rubin was dealt a further blow just before the break as Sergey Semak was forced out with Rafał Murawski coming in for the injured captain.
Two minutes after the break the match was levelled as Xavi deftly chipped the ball into left side the box towards a surging Zlatan Ibrahimović, who chested the ball down with Roman Sharonov in pursuit before finishing with a sublime cross body drive into the opposite side of the net.
With the match now squared, momentum suggested Barcelona was bearing down on a victory but after a number of attempts proved to be unworthy Rubin stunned them with the eventual winner at the seventy-third minute. Pouncing on the over-exposed Barcelona assault, Alejandro Domínguez tore forward in a scorching counter attack before splitting Barcelona defenders with a perfect pass that Gökdeniz Karadeniz drove into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead.
Like true champions Barcelona came storming back in search of the draw, with Lionel Messi creating a top-notch effort that Zlatan Ibrahimović sent off the crossbar before a last gasp header by Yaya Touré of Xavi's corner did the same. After withstanding pressure Sergey Ryzhikov took a final swing at a goal-kick in added-time to give Rubin Kazan a 2-1 victory over Barcelona that will be remembered for years to come.
Prepared by John Davies
