Barcelona faced Juventus this evening at Camp Nou in a clash that was touted as deciding the winners of Champions League Group G.
It did. Juventus won 3-0 courtesy of a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo and a goal from Winston McKennie. The Italians had to better Barcelona’s 2-0 victory over them in Turin in October to steal top spot, and they did.
The big story around the evening was the presence of Lionel Messi and Ronaldo, widely considered to be two of the greatest footballers in history, who were lining up against each other for the first time since the latter departed from Real Madrid in the summer of 2018.
The Portuguese was instrumental early in the match, striking first blood inside the opening quarter of an hour. Ronaldo won a penalty after being bodychecked by Ronald Araujo in the box, before bouncing up and sending his effort straight down the middle past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Soon after, Juventus doubled their advantage. This time it was their American star Weston McKennie at the heart of things, initiating a slick one-two with Juan Cuadrado out the right side before stabbing home an accurate finish.
Less than ten minutes into the second half, Juventus had a third and Ronaldo had his second. Clement Lenglet was deemed to have handled the ball in the box, resulting in another penalty. Ronaldo, once again, made no mistake, sending the Italians through to the last 16 as group winners.
Featured image courtesy of Juventus FC.
