3:35am | A top-billing game, featuring Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and the fans have had their share of moments. Not a night for Messi to remember but the Argentine was the outright playmaker through the latter stages of the game. Ronaldo, determined as ever, nonchalantly bagged two from the spot. The duo is still here, competing and rewriting records. Will we ever get to meet them again together on the field? We shall certainly hope for No.37 being scripted soon. Good night folks, reminisce the magical 90 minutes until next time!
3:30am | A dominating first-half from the visitor became the difference between the sides. Ronaldo's twin strikes from the spot mean that Juve was in the driver's seat but his rival took a while to set the ball rolling. Messi hit top gear soon and created more chances than anyone on either side. But a certain 42-year-old goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, fended off every menacing attack from the Argentine superstar who looked visibly distraught tonight.
Not to forget the aerial dynamics of Mckennie which put Juve in a 2-0 lead in the first-half. However, the night belonged to the three masters - Cristiano Ronaldo, Gianluigi Buffon and Lionel Messi, who despite the loss was at his phenomenal best. With a 3-0 win, Juventus tops Group G as it progresses to the last-16 alongside second-placed Barcelona.
FULL-TIME: Barcelona 0 - 3 Juventus
The Full-time whistles blow! A moment of respect as Lionel Messi and Buffon exchange shirts.
93' It has been a terrific second-half for Barca but with no goal to its tally. Messi has been phenomenal in the second-half. He has given it all but a certain Gianluigi Buffon has stood rock-solid in goal.
Substitution - Chiesa comes in for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Another day, another milestone for Ronaldo.
Four Minutes added on.
89' Messi! Oh dear. He just can't get past Buffon today. An almost fourth straight chance against Buffon who is made to stretch hard to left. The 42-year-old keeps it within his grasps once again.
86' Into the closing minutes here. As of now, Juve is poised to pip Barca to the top spot.
80' A RONALDO-MESSI moment there! Messi nearly had the opening to move into the box there bu Ronaldo dashes in front of him and snatches the ball away. Messi plays catch up but Ronaldo forces the clearance! Magical moment right there.
77' Free kick for Messi. A good shot on target but hardly anything that bothers Buffon.
74'
4-0, Demolition here! Bonucci! Scratch that. Calls for an off-side here as the referee moves to the
VAR. Ronaldo's pass to Bonucci from the cross had the skipper in an off-side position and precisely so. The goal is disallowed.
A couple of subs lining up for Juventus: Bentancur in for Arthur, Rabiot in for Ramsey
No.40 at 35 for CR7
68' YELLOW CARD, Danilo | Brings down the Barca sub Firpo and gets Juve's first card of the night.
66' Unlucky for Messi once again!
Leo has carved some magical moments here, another solo move into the box, only if a bit of luck went his way tonight.
64' Cometh the champs, it's Messi vs Buffon once again!
Menacing from Leo once again, jaw-dropping swirl to move past the Juve defence, forces the space and shoots once more to the Juve post but the wily old Buffon aces another save. The man is still fit as a fiddle.
59' YELLOW CARD, UMTITI | A dangerous challenge on Morata there who has been targeted more often than not tonight. Umtiti, just minutes into his first game of the season warrants a booking.
55' SUBSTITION BARCA | Umtiti in for Lenglet, Firpo for Alba
Misery for Barca. Just when it was poised to make a return to the game, another slip-up has cost it dearly.
52' GOOOOALL! CRISTIANO RONALDO scores another! Second from the spot as cool as ever from CR7. Juve takes a 3-0 lead!
51' Penalty for Juventus! Cristiano Ronaldo steps for another!
48' Ramsey! Nearly.... Cuadrado forces a corner to Mckennie from the right into the box who twirls to pass it to Ramsey. His curler is well defended by Ter Stegen. Calls for a VAR there as a the ball hits Lenglet's arm. Is there another penalty?
46' Another Messi-Buffon encounter. Leo forces a powerful shot just outside the box, but Buffon defends it without much rigour. Messi looks menacing.
45' Remember Juve is still a goal behind if it is to top the group despite the win. Can Juve take a three-nil lead here?
Trincao replaced by Brathwaite for Barca
SECOND-HALF BEGINS
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2:20am |
An exhilarating first-half at the Camp Nou. Juventus was the early-bidder for the attack with Cristiano Ronaldo smashing in the first goal from the penalty spot. It was Ronaldo's 13th goal against Leo Messi at the Camp Nou and his third UCL goal of the season.
Seven minutes later, Weston Mckennie's aerial superkick from a Cuadrado cross put Barcelona's plans to the backfoot. Its talisman did not have a resounding first 30 minutes, but has looked lethal ever since. As Barca began to force more chances into ther Juve half, with two certain goal-scoring opportunities, Messi was once again the chief at the engine-room. Will he help Barca to force back into this one in the second-half?
Shocking reports emerging from the PSG-Basaksehir game.
HALF-TIME | Juventus heads into the break with a 2-0 lead
45' Close from Barca! Messi at the fore once again who forces another shot at the Juve post, Buffon has been nimble-footed at the post and provides yet another good save.
42' A lovely moment of build-up there with Alba and Messi exchanging passes. Alba forces to the far right to Dent who fends it wide of the Juve post once again.
37' Seems like Messi is slowly hitting the top-gear. Watch out!
35' MESSI ON TARGET!
A first major chance for Messi to snatch a goal there, forces himself through the defense to shoot the cross into the Juve post, only to find the veteran Buffon with open arms to bide the danger.
30 minutes into the first-half, this has been a solid start from Juve. Forcing the pressure on the host with a delectable range of crisp passes and swift attacks into the Barca box.
30' YELLOW CARD FOR LENGLET. This is foolish from the Barca defender. A half-baked tackle on Morata forces the referee to book the Frenchman.
29' Pjanic nearly smashes it in! Messi provides the cross for the former Juve man who sends in a curler, missing the Juve post inches wide.
26' Yellow Card, Jordi Alba | Unnecessary from the Barca left-back there. Protests with the referee on a foul committed by Ramsey and invites him a needless booking.
24' Is there a third? A header from Morata just goes inches wide of the cross-bar.
21' Messi! Nearly gets into the net there but the wily old Buffon stretches to keep it wide. First serious attack from Barca there.
20' GOOOALL! Sensational! Mckennie doubles the lead for Juve! Ramsey builds the ball into the box before passing it back to Cuadrado far wide who passes it straight it back into the box, Mckennie pounces onto it and slashes a stellar kick into the Barca net. His first UCL goal for Juve.
15' Ruthless approach from Juve here. The ball has scathed past the Juve half. Ronaldo and Ramsey looking sharp up front, forcing more and more chances by the minute. Barca looking vulnerable.
12' GOAL! CRISTIANO RONALDO! Calm and composed as ever from the spot. Smashes it easily past Ter Stegen. First goal for CR7 against Barcelona in the Champions League!
11' Penalty! Oh dear oh dear! Ronaldo is brought down in the box! Araujo's clumsy tackle could just cost Barcelona here!
10' Barca kept on the back-foot here. Juve showing more intent on attack all of a sudden, picking the mantle from the host. More crosses into the Barca box.
9' This is a good start from Juve. Breathing down the necks of the Barca defence, forcing the game in its half.
7' First shot from Ronaldo. A rather meek one from CR7 there. Mckennie breezes in a swift pass but Ronaldo fails to fuel power onto his shot.
5' Foul. Lenglet pushes down Morata there. Aggressive from Barca from the start.
4' Ronaldo pushes the ball into the Barca box but forces an easy clearance there.
3' Barca in an early mood to attack. Messi sets the ball into the danger area but Juve manage to keep it out for now.
1' Barcelona gets the game underway!
KICK-OFF
Messi and Ronaldo shares a brief hug at the centre. What a moment.
01:29am | READY FOR KICK-OFF! Let us all hope for 90 unforgettable minutes!
01:20am | What a day for the 42-year-old Gianluigi Buffon, making his 17th UCL season appearance. Only Iker Casillas (20), Ryan Giggs (19) and his teammate Ronaldo (18) has had more Champions League appearances over different seasons.
01:17am | Juventus has not been far behind in the Champions League but with its talisman Ronaldo missing out on action on two occasions, Juve's diminished attack looked predictable on most occasions. With Ronaldo's fine goal-scoring form on return from recovery from COVID-19, coupled with an in-form Alvaro Morata, Juventus will be up for the challenge against Barcelona tonight.
01:15am | It has been a fine for Barcelona in the Champions League this season, winning all five of its encounters and scoring the joint-most goals so far. For a side that has struggled to get its La Liga campaign underway in typical fashion, Ronald Koeman and his side will hope to build confidence from an excellent game at home against a bolstered Juventus attack.
01:04am | CR7 is on out at the Camp Nou - an arena where he has the lead over his rival Messi with 12 goals to eight - Ronaldo is seen warming up.
01:00am | We are 30 minutes away from kick-off! 'The Last Dance' ft. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo!
12:45am |
Enter the stars of the night - Barcelona and Juventus players make their way into the Camp Nou!
A milestone for the 25-year-old Frenchman.
There's the news we've been waiting for! Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will start for their respective sides in their final Group G clash! Game on, folks.
PLAYING XIs:
12:24am | Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Ter Stegen, Sergino Dest, Ronald Araujo, Jordi Alba, Clement Lenglet, Miralem Pjanic, Pedri, Frenkie De Jong, Trincao, Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann,
Juventus (3-5-2): Gianluigi Buffon, De Ligt, Leonardo Bonucci, Danilo, Alex Sandro, Ramsey, Arthur, Weston Mckennie, Cuadrado, Alvaro Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo
12:15 am | RECENT FORM GUIDE:
Barcelona UCL form: WWWWW
Barcelona form (all competitions): LWWWL
Juventus UCL form: WWWLW
Juventus form (all competitions): WWDWW
Ronaldo vs Messi at Camp Nou:
12:10am - Cristiano Ronaldo has apparently had the wood over his arch-rival at his very own home ground in their many battles over the years with a four-goal lead.
Ronaldo (Goals): 12
Messi (Goals): 8
The Barca boys are all in readiness.
KEY NUMBERS
12am - Here are some of the key numbers ahead of the mouth-watering clash.
Barcelona is the only side to win all five matches played in the UCL group stages so far.
Barca has scored the joint-most goals thus far in the competition with 16 goals.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have both featured in three of their side’s five UCL fixtures so far this season. While Messi has scored thrice (all penalties), Ronaldo has found the back of the net twice for Juventus.
Juve’s Alvaro Morata is the UCL’s joint-top scorer this season with six goals.
Here's a heads-up on the Messi-Ronaldo numbers:
MATCH PREVIEW:
11:45pm - The excitement levels of football fans across the globe would have hit the crescendo on October 29, 2020, if not for the vicious virus itself. With Cristiano Ronaldo falling prey to COVID-19, a highly-anticipated rekindling of the famed rivalry with Lionel Messi was put to the bay. In the Portuguese’s absence, Messi and Barcelona made merry at Juventus’ Allianz Stadium in a 2-0 win for the visitor with the Argentine scoring a 90th-minute penalty.
Come Tuesday night, the footballing Gods, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo descend upon either side of the pitch once again after a sabbatical of 937 days. The dynamic duo will go up against each other for the 36th time in their career when Barcelona hosts Juventus at the Camp Nou on Tuesday in the Champions League.
As much as the world’s top-two superstars are set to write headlines tonight, it is a game of equal measure for Juventus and Barcelona as they attempt to finish on top of Group G and be seeded for the Champions League Last-16 draw set to take place on December 14.
Where to watch Barcelona vs Juventus?
The Champions League encounter between Barcelona and Juventus can be watched live on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD and can be streamed live on Sony LIV.
When to watch Barcelona vs Juventus?
The Champions League encounter between Barcelona and Juventus will kick off at 1.30 am IST on December 9, 2020.
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