BARCELONA have secured an impressive win at Juventus as Lionel Messi’s penalty followed up a strike from range from Ousmane Dembele.
While hosts Juventus threatened, with Alvaro Morata having three goals disallowed, Barcelona remained comfortable for the most part.
The Juve cause was also not helped by Merih Demiral being sent off for a second booking with five minutes to go.
ARRIVEDERCI FROM TURIN
Reports of Barcelona’s demise may have been premature.
Following boardroom chaos, transfer sagas and defeat in El Clasico, Barca had been on the floor, but they bounced back this evening with an impressive Champions League win in Italy.
In control from the start, the Spanish side dominated a weakened Juventus to prevail 2-0, and, while there was no Cristiano Ronaldo on display, there was certainly a Lionel Messi.
The Barcelona captain was remarkable at times, gliding across the pitch with the grace that we have come to adore.
He brought up the 300th assist of a sensational career with a brilliant crossfield pass for Ousmane Dembele to open the scoring, and then bagged his 70th Champions League group stage goal from the penalty spot with seconds remaining.
By their high standards, Juventus were poor, and their reliance on the absent Ronaldo showed.
Mind you, Alvaro Morata demonstrated that he at least knows how to find the net, he’s just unsure of the offside rule.
Three times the former Chelsea striker believed he had scored, only to be denied by a combination of the linesman’s flag and the video officials.
A bad night for the Old Lady was summed up by the late red card shown to Merih Demiral, sent off for two bookable offences.
The result is a reprieve for the underfire Ronald Koeman, but, for Andrea Pirlo, the Juve jury remains out.
Thanks for being with us and goodnight.
G AND EASY
It’s not all bad news for Juventus this evening.
A last minute equaliser for Ferencvaros against Dynamo Kyiv means there is still daylight between the Italians in second place in Group G and the other two sides.
Barcelona lead the way with maximum points from two games.
MESSI ON THE SPOT
Barcelona’s talisman seals the victory in the final minute with a penalty.
MORATA MISERY
Juventus forward Alvaro Morata had the ball in the back of the net three times this evening, only to find each one ruled out for offside.
That made it five disallowed goals for Morata – all ruled out for offside – in his last four games.
LEO LEADS THE WAY
A 70th goal in the Champions League group stages, and he’s heading some significant numbers from the match too.
MESSI THE MAIN MAN AGAIN
It was another impressive display from the Barcelona captain, and the club’s social media team couldn’t help having a dig at absent friends.
SEEING RED
Juventus’ Merih Demiral is given his marching orders in the closing stages at the Allianz Stadium.
FT: JUVENTUS 0-2 BARCELONA
Barcelona win away at Juventus for the first time despite all their recent turmoil.
Ousmane Dembele’s deflected goal in the first half and Lionel Messi’s late penalty did the damage, and it was the least the Spaniards deserved as they bettered their hosts in every area – despite Alvaro Morata’s trio of disallowed goals.
PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
IT’S ALL OVER IN TURIN!
JUVENTUS 0-2 BARCELONA
90+3. Fati must score!
Fati must shoot?!
The teenage top scorer, one on one with Szczesny, instead looks for a pass to Martin Braithwaite that isn’t on, and only succeeds in rolling the ball out for a goalkick.
Bizarre.
90. Well, he was never going to miss, was he?
Sending Wojciech Szczesny the wrong way, Lional Messi is cool as you like as he sweeps his left-footed strike into the top corner from 12 yards.
The spotkick was justified as Federico Bernardeschi, clumsy and lazy, bundled into the back of Ansu Fati as the substitute burst into the box.
It’s Messi’s 70th goal in the Champions League group stage in just 74 games.
Juventus 0-2 BARCELONA
GOOOOOOOAALLLLLL!!
MESSI MAKES NO MISTAKE!!
BERNARDESCHI BRINGS DOWN FATI!
PENALTY TO BARCA!
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
88. Ronald Koeman gives Junior Firpo a runout for the last couple of minutes.
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
85. Juve will play out the final five minutes with ten men because Merih Demiral has been sent off for two yellow cards.
The Turkish international tried to pull out as he flung his boot in the direction of Miralem Pjanic, but the damage had already been done.
Under the nose of the Dutch referee, he had no hesitation in pulling out a yellow card followed by the red.
A hard task just got tougher for the hosts.
RED CARD!!
MERIH DEMIRAL IS GIVEN HIS MARCHING ORDERS!
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
83. Pirlo calls for reinforcements with Arthur thrown on to replace Bentancur.
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
81. Have the Italians got an equaliser in them as we head into the final ten minutes?
If they show the same amount of fight as Danilo just did when not being awarded a throw-in, they may just have a chance.
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
78. It’s Rabiot’s turn for a booking.
The Frenchman struggled to keep pace Messi so took the easy option of bundling him over from behind.
It’s Juve’s fourth caution of the night. Meanwhile, the recipient of their first – Dejan Kulusevski – has gone off to be replaced by Weston McKennie.
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
75. Griezmann in inches away from bagging Barcelona a second.
The game is opening up now, and the French international found himself in plenty of space on the left as he dragged his shot not only past Szczesny, but also the outside of the far post.
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
74. Cuadrado receives a yellow card for diving, having gone past Lenglet in the area.
It’s the correct decision, and the Colombian is perhaps fortunate it’s not his second of the evening following his theatrics with Alba in the first half.
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
73. Brilliant footwork from you know who.
Messi’s trickery and class takes him away from Bonucci with the Juventus defender barely noticing.
Into the box, only a last gasp block from Danilo denies the Argentine making it 2-0.
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
70. They’re still fighting but it’s probably best if they don’t do it like this.
Demiral goes into the book for a wild hack as Messi threatened to dance through the Juventus defence.
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
69. Juve are still fighting here.
Moments after Kulusevski had been off target with an audacious chip, Rabiot is sent through on goal by Morata’s clever through ball.
The angle is against him, and so is hit shooting ability as the Frenchman slides his effort well wide of the near post.
JUVENTUS 0-1 BARCELONA
66. Barcelona goalscorer, Ousmane Dembele, has run his race for the evening.
The French forward took advantage of a rare start to score, but will now take a breather to allow 17-year-old sensation Ansu Fati a runout.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
