Welcome back to TalkBarca. Our topic for today is the Match Review of the game between FC Barcelona vs Juventus. Barcelona was on a 5/5 winning streak in the Champions League before this game. Barcelona had the home advantage and therefore, the favorites to win this game too. However, nothing happened to what the Cules hoped for. Juventus thrashed past FC Barcelona 0-3 and also ended as the group winners. Here is the Match Review of the disappointing clash of FC Barcelona vs Juventus.
FC BARCELONA VS JUVENTUS MATCH REVIEW
FC Barcelona had many issues before this game. The recent one was Dembele’s injury in the previous game against Cadiz. Furthermore, Juve was coming with a much stronger squad than the previous encounter. Juve had De Ligt back into the squad as well as the greatest, Cristiano Ronaldo.
FIRST HALF
Barcelona came into this game after a disappointing loss to Cadiz in the La Liga. FC Barcelona had maintained a perfect winning streak in the Champions League before this game and the Blaugranas needed to win this game as well in order to regain their confidence. There was nothing wrong with the lineup either. Koemann went with one of his strongest playing lineup on paper. However, Andrea Pirlo seemed to be two steps ahead of him at all times.
Juventus were all over the game right from the beginning. Cristiano Ronaldo won a penalty during the early moments of the game. The penalty was due to a soft tackle from Ronald Araujo who started above Oscar Mingueza. The Portuguese International converted the penalty from the spot and thus, gave Juventus the lead. Moments later, Weston Mckennie stepped up and scored the second goal of the game. It was a great effort from the American International who connected a perfect volley and scored an acrobatic goal.
FC Barcelona looked shocked after Juve struck them with two quick goals early in the game. Barcelona was once again having more of the ball possession but failed to do anything significant with it. Lionel Messi was able to take two shots at the goal. However, they were easy saves for the experienced, Gianluigi Buffon. Other than that, FC Barcelona seemed clueless about what to do. Juventus was happy not to have the ball at all times as they knew that enough damage had already been inflicted.
The first half ended with Barcelona struggling and trying to figure out what went wrong. Once again, Ronald Koemann had his best side on paper. However, the players were failing to deliver according to expectations. The home fans hoped for a miracle from their team as they prepared for the second half.
FIRST HALF: FC BARCELONA 0-2 JUVENTUS
SECOND HALF
Everyone expected that FC Barcelona is going to come out with real envy and energy. However, the opposite happened. Barcelona had no venom, no will to score a goal, and no impact on the game at all. Juventus, on the other hand, was very comfortable with whatever was happening on the pitch. None of the big names from the Blaugranas did anything significant for the team.
Lionel Messi penetrated inside the opposition defense to take two shots at goal in the first half. This gave everyone hope that he would do something more effective in the second half. However, he was not up to the mark. The same applies to Marc Andre Ter Stegen and Clement Lenglet. Lenglet gave away another penalty due to handball. Cristiano took the penalty shot and converted it for the Italian side. The game was already over for FC Barcelona as Cristiano Ronaldo was once again able to create a heavy impact at the Camp Nou.
Umtiti replaced Lenglet and Firpo replaced Jordi Alba.
However, neither Umtiti nor Firpo was able to stop the mighty Juventus from dominating. Bonucci’s goal was given as offside after a deep review from the VAR. Similarly, Antoine Griezmann got a penalty denied because he was in an offside position.
Puig came in the end and played much better than almost all the FC Barcelona players on the pitch. However, there was nothing he could do to prevent his team from losing the game. The game ended as FC Barcelona once again disappointed everyone with another performance while Juventus qualifies to Round of 16 as group winners.
FULL TIME: FC BARCELONA 0-3 JUVENTUS
