Dembele and Messi strikes for Barcelona in comfortable victory over Juve
2 min read
Barça made a very fast start, with three big chances in less than two minutes and a lot of intensity and hunger to recover the ball. But they also had to deal with an intense and hungry Juventus team that pressed very high looking to force mistakes at the back.
The Blaugrana struggled to get out of their own half, but once they finally did they got a goal: Ousmane Dembélé received the ball in space, put on a couple of moves and fired a shot with his right foot that deflected off Leonardo Bonucci and went over Szczesny into the net.
Juventus got a hold of the ball and started to go forward looking for an equalizer, and Álvaro Morata scored twice only to have both goals disallowed for offside. Other than those two moments, the Old Lady looked dangerous at times but the Barça backline did a good job of avoiding big trouble.
At halftime, Barça were playing well with the ball, had a deserved lead and looked solid enough without the ball, but they still needed another goal to ensure the victory.
The second half started with another goal disallowed for Morata for offside, his third of the night. But that was about it for Juventus when it came to attacking prowess, as the hosts struggled mightily to create any meaningful offense with Paulo Dybala far from his best.
Barça did a masterful job of keeping possession and forcing Juve to run after the ball, and Miralem Pjanic continued to play an exceptional game in midfield controlling the tempo and creating dangerous chances with smart passes, and Barça continued to come up with big opportunities.
Messi, Pedri and Griezmann all had big chances to score but couldn’t, and as we reached the final 10 minutes there was still an opportunity for Juve to equalize despite their struggles in attack. But Barça did a great job of keeping the ball, and Lionel Messi scored a penalty in the 90th minute to ensure the win.
The final whiste came to end an excellent victory for Barça. In the first day without Josep Maria Bartomeu in charge, Barça put together their best performance of the season so far.
