It was a nightmarish display of Barcelona on their home ground, Camp Nou Stadium, and as a result, the Spanish giant suffered from a huge defeat. Barca lost against Juventus with a margin of 3 goals in the final fixture of the UEFA Champions League (UCL).
Barca lost against Juventus in the final match of Group G in the UCL tournament. But actually, the Spanish giant lost against Ronaldo. In the previous showcase between two teams, Ronaldo could not perform for the Old Lady, and that time, Juventus lost against Barcelona with a margin of 2 goals. But this time, when the Portuguese striker is back, the old debt has been checked with an outstanding performance of Ronaldo. The striker scored 2 penalties and played an important role in the victory of Old Lady.
It was a balanced flow of the match between two teams before the game-changing moment happened at the 12th minute. Young defender of Barca Ronald Araujo had a wrong contact with Ronaldo inside the box when the two players went one-on-one in a situation. The youngster of Barcelona was lack of experience in that he used his hands to push the Portuguese striker, and as a result, Juventus had the penalty privilege.
Ronaldo wasted no chance to score his goal for Juventus. A correct shot to the left corner of the goal was enough to defeat the wonderful German goalkeeper Marc Andre-Ter Stegen. Juventus lift up the result while Ronaldo extended his goalscoring record in the UCL to the number of 134.
After conceding a goal, Barcelona fought back with strong pressure, and they created a few outstanding chances to score a goal. However, Juventus once again enlarged the margin of the game, and this time, it was the International American star Weston McKennie who scored the goal.
Receiving a good cross from right wing-back Juan Cuadrado at the 22nd minute, McKennie decided to fire off the ball with a volley. His clinical shot was powerful, beautiful, and with no mercy. It was in the back of Ter Stegen’s net and the American youngster got for himself the first goal in the UCL this season.
Barcelona was stunned by the visiting team with two early goals, but the counter of El Blaugrana was not good enough to make Gianluigi Buffon give up. The Spanish side made a total of 20 shots towards the goal of Buffon, but only 7 of them made it on goal, and none of them was conceded by Buffon. At the age of 42, Buffon still seemingly is one of the most classy goalkeepers in the world.
Barca and Juventus ended the first half with the advantage result for the Italian side when Lionel Messi and his colleagues could not make it in the goal of Buffon.
It was not an ideal performance of Messi and Antoine Griezmann when both of them could not put the ball in the back of the net. Barcelona possessed the ball in 59% of the time of the match, but it did not reflect the outcome on the scoring board. Messi and his colleagues got more time with the ball, but it did not mean that they played better.
Barca controlled the ball better, but they had a lower rate of converting from chance to goal. El Blaugrana wasted some wonderful chance to find the equalizer, and they received the outcome that was so forgettable.
Meanwhile, Juventus only got 4 shots on goal but they uplifted the margin three times. The final time once again belonged to Ronaldo. The Portuguese had another penalty opportunity at the 50th minute after Clement Lenglet of Barcelona had a handball playing inside the box. The referee was doubtful in the first place, but after discussing with the VAR, he decided that it was a penalty.
Ronaldo stepped up again, and likely to the first time, he gave Ter Stegen no saving chance with a powerful shot to the left corner.
In the end, Barca received a heavy defeat at Camp Nou stadium and lost their first ranking advantage to Juventus. The Old Lady can avoid some tough fights in the upcoming round of the UCL, while Barca is facing a threat of going one-on-one with Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Chelsea.