Club Brugge 0 - Barcelona 1

Brugge: Verlinden; Maertens, Simons, Clement (Spilar 68'), Lesnjak (Saeternes 80'); De Cock, Englebert, Stoica, Van der Hayden (Ristic 68'); Martens, Verheyen. 4-4-2.
Barcelona: Enke; Puyol, Dani Tortolero, Fernando Navarro; Rochemback, Gerard, Iniesta, Gabri (David Sánchez 88'); Geovanni (Sergio García 62'), Riquelme; Dani. 3-4-2-1.

Goals:
0-1. 64. Riquelme. Took Gerard pass and shook off two defenders before scoring.

Group H:
Barcelona.................... 15 points
Club Brugge.................. 5 points
Galatasaray.................. 4 points
Lokomotiv Moscow.... 4 points

A moment of genius from Juan Román Riquelme was enough for Barcelona to take the three points against a grey Club Brugge. Already assured of top spot in their group, Van Gaal lined up with a team packed with reserve players, leaving the rest of his first team squad at home. Only Puyol, Fernando Navarro and Riquelme made the trip from his first choice side, and with several injuries to his squad, B team youngsters Dani Tortolero and Iniesta started the game, with Oleguer, David Sánchez, Nano and Spanish under 19 striker Sergio García on the bench.

The replacements were clearly short of match practise, and quite often passes went astray due to the lack of understanding between players who had not played together much. Even so Dani brought the first save of the game out of keeper Verlinden with a looping shot early on, and Riquelme shot over the bar a few minutes later. The Belgians did have their moments though, and after Stoica hit the bar, Enke had to make a good save from a Martens header. And just before half English referee Graham Poll turned down a penalty appeal after Fernando Navarro tripped Verheyen, who was lucky not to be sent off a minute later when he elbowed the young defender in the face in another attack down the wing.

Van Gaal gave Sergio García a first run out in the second half, and Barça were starting to spray the ball around with confidence. Then came the goal, Riquelme picking up a short pass from Gerard and rounding two defenders before hitting a dipping shot into the bottom corner of the net. Dani and Iniesta came close to making it two later in the half, but Enke had to make a fingertip save from Martins in injury time to ensure Barça's fifth straight win. They are the only team in the competition with maximum points, and can now concentrate on their league program for a couple of weeks before the second phase starts at the end of November.