SAN FRANCISCO, December 09, (THEWILL) – Cristiano Ronaldo’s was in scintillating form as he produced his first UEFA Champions League goals against Barcelona that helped Juventus to a stunning 3-0 away win and the top spot in Group G.
While Ronaldo recovered from coronavirus, the Bianconeri had lost the reverse fixture 2-0 in Turin. It meant that for the Italian giants to leapfrog their hosts, they had to do better than that result at Camp Nou.
The mercurial Portuguese superstar had not previously netted in five European matches against the Blaugrana. On Tuesday, he delighted in piling further pressure on under-fire home coach Ronald Koeman, whose side are ninth in LaLiga.
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were meeting for the first time since the Portuguese became a Juve player and he made the most of a generous early penalty award after Ronald Araujo appeared to get his body between man and ball in the box. He dispatched his spot-kick down the centre of the goal.
Barca were two goals behind with just 20 minutes on the clock, which is the earliest the Catalan giants have ever conceded twice in a home Champions League game. And, this time, the defence had no excuse.
Midfielder Weston McKennie moved the ball wide to Juan Cuadrado and moved unchecked into a position where he was allowed to meet the subsequent cross completely unimpeded with an acrobatic close-range scissor kick.
Just as the hosts improved, their game was disrupted by the break. Then, they were dealt a further blow five minutes into the second half as defender Clement Lenglet was deemed to have touched the ball with his arm. After a VAR check, the penalty was given and Ronaldo was again clinical from 12 yards.
Barca’s response increased the pressure on the visitors and opened up chances but the goal did not materialise. Messi’s free-kick was nodded onto the top of the crossbar by Antoine Griezmann, who was denied a penalty due to offside as pressure again built on the Juve goal and Matthijs de Ligt dived in rashly.
A belated VAR call went Barca’s way when Ronaldo bundled the ball onto an offside Leonardo Bonucci, and Juve’s fourth goal was struck off, but it did little to impact an eye-catching result.
A tricky last-16 draw is not what Koeman needs right now, although recent performances would suggest he will do well to make it that far.
Next, Barca host Levante in La Liga on Sunday while Juve visit Genoa earlier the same day in Serie A.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
