Cristiano Ronaldo’s two penalties gave Juventus a stunning 3-0 win over Barcelona that earned them a place in the Champions League Group G. The striker won his battle with Lionel Messi at Camp Nou as Juve disbanded the home side.
Weston McKennie scored again early as Juventus secured a three-goal victory needed to put their rivals in first place. Messi has drawn a blank slate, which means he is two golas behind still in Pelé’s highest goals for a single club in history and remains holding on to 641.
Juventus Scoring Spree
Juventus scored the first goal 13 minutes later, when Ronaldo received a controversial kick. The striker had a fight with Ronald Araújo, the two fell to the ground, and, without Barça’s anger, the referee awarded a fine. Ronaldo dropped it in the middle, scoring his first goal in a Champions League match against Messi.
The visitors doubled their lead seven minutes later when McKennie volunteered for Juan Cuadrado’s wake-up call from six yards after Aaron Ramsey’s busy run.
Messi was denied by Gianluigi Buffon a minute later and fired twice before the goalkeeper when Barça tried to find a way back. But Ronaldo again scored six minutes into the second half when he hit another penalty. The referee had to check on his guard during the VAR review after Clément Lenglet took over the post before kicking off a kick and Ronaldo sent Marc-André ter Stegen in the wrong way.
Barca’s Unsuccessful And Undying Attempts
Antoine Griezmann’s header hit the bar five minutes later and Buffon continued to frustrate Messi before Griezmann opened up too far in the distance. The visitors thought they had four minutes to go with 15 minutes left but Leonardo Bonucci’s effort was said to have been offside after he collected a knockdown from Ronaldo.
Barcelona’s 25-match unbeaten streak in the Champions League group stage is over – a series that goes back to 2016 – and Buffon stopped Messi holding a late consolation with a good save on the ground.
Other Group Matches
Elsewhere in the group, Dynamo Kiev beat Ferencvaros 1-0 thanks to a goal from Denys Popov as they took third place.
In Group E, which includes Chelsea, Jules Koundé added twice to Youssef En-Nesyri as Sevilla won 3-1 at Rennes.
In Group F, Lazio qualified for the last 16 for the first time since 1999 after a 2-2 draw with Club Brugge. Joaquín Correa gave the home side the lead before Ruud Vormer only rated Ciro Immobile’s penalty to recoup Lazio’s advantage. Eduard Sobol was sent off in the first half on the side of the visit but Hans Vanaken’s late header won the point. Brugge will enter the Europa League after finishing third, two points behind Lazio.
Lukasz Piszczek and Axel Witsel scored in the second half as the winning side Borussia Dortmund recovered from a 1-0 defeat in a 2-1 win over Zenit St Petersburg after Sebastián Driussi led the home side ahead.
