USMNT: Sergino Dest opens scoring account with Barcelona

USMNT’s Sergino Dest opened his scoring account in Barca’s Champions League win over Dynamo Kyiv

Despite the absence of Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, and Sergi Roberto, FC Barcelona cruised past Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv on matchday four of the UEFA Champions League with four second-half goals to win 4-0.

Sergino Dest, who became the first American to ever start for Barcelona in October, became the first American to ever score for the Spanish giants with a tidy finish to open the scoring in the 52nd minute.

The floodgates soon opened for Barcelona as Martin Braithwaite added a brace before Antoine Griezmann’s stoppage-time goal. Barcelona’s win also clinched their spot in the Round of 16 for the 17th consecutive season.

While recent months have caused some scandalous situations at Barcelona, the addition of Sergino Dest has been anything but scandalous. The 20-year-old has really taken over the right back job and done extremely well and has been rewarded with his first goal.

Young American Konrad de la Fuente also made his senior debut for Barca after coming on in the 82nd minute of Tuesday’s match. The 19-year-old, who made his USMNT senior debut earlier this month against Wales, came on to replace Trincao. The pair were just the second American duo to play for the same team in a UEFA Champions League match, following Tim Howard and Jonathan Spector doing so for Manchester United in 2004.

The 19-year-old’s appearance also made him the seventh American to play in the UEFA Champions League this season, breaking the previous record of six, which was set in 2004/05. With just eight normal minutes and four minutes of added time, he didn’t have much to do other than celebrate Griezmann’s goal in the second minute of stoppage time.

Overall, the future looks bright for Dest while Konrad de la Fuente still needs to prove himself to receive praise, but he must be doing well to receive his first match for the Blaugrana.

Outside of Barcelona, Weston McKennie and Gio Reyna also played in matchday four. McKennie played 62 minutes in Juventus’ 2-1 win over Ferencvarosi while Reyna played 81 minutes in Borrusia Dortmund’s win over Club Brugge. while Chelsea star Christian Pulisic remained sidelined against Renne with a hamstring injury but should be ready for the Blues’ London Derby clash with Tottenham on Sunday.