Champions League: Ronaldo double helps Juve to 3-0 win over Barca

A brace from Ronaldo and a stunning volley from McKennie helped Juve take first place over Barcelona by virtue of a superior head-to-head record in Group G on Tuesday.

The Portuguese struck twice from the spot as Juventus outclassed Barca at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo netted two penalties as Juventus out-classed Barcelona 3-0 at the Camp Nou to claim top spot in Champions League Group G on Tuesday.

It was Ronaldo's first meeting with Barca since leaving bitter rival Real Madrid in 2018 and it did not take long for the forward to make his mark on the game.

The Portuguese tested Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen early on, before opening the scoring from the spot in the 13th minute after being felled by Ronald Araujo.

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Defender Danilo flashed an effort just wide as the visitors cranked up the pressure, with a stunning Weston McKennie volley putting the Italian champions two goals up and in full control seven minutes later.

“The defeat was because of how we played in the opening 25 minutes,” a furious Barca coach Ronald Koeman said.

“We started badly, we looked scared, we weren't aggressive. It looked as if we'd come out looking not to lose, as opposed to trying to control the game. We weren't good, not even positionally.

“We got better but we lost the game in the first half an hour.”

Juve reserve keeper banned before playing a match Juventus' third-choice goalkeeper Carlo Pinsoglio has yet to play a match this season but on Tuesday was given a one-game ban after being sent off during his team's last outing. Serie A's disciplinary tribunal said that Pinsoglio, ordered from the touchline at the end of his team's 2-1 win over Torino for insulting the referee, had “protested vigorously using disrespectful words”. He was also fined 5,000 euros ($6,053). The 30-year-old signed for Juventus in 2014 but has played only three Serie A matches since then and has been loaned out three times, to Modena, Livorno and Latina who were in all Serie B when he played for them. Juve also had two directors banned for insulting the referee. Pavel Nedved, a former Juventus player, was suspended until December 21 and fined 10,000 euros for “repeatedly... using seriously insulting words” and Fabio Paratici was suspended until December 14.

Both sides had already qualified for the knockout stages before kick-off. They ended the group phase on 15 points each but Juve took first place by virtue of a superior head-to-head record.

Ronaldo got his second penalty when Clement Lenglet was penalised for handball seven minutes after the restart.

Things almost got worse for the Catalans a quarter of an hour from time when Leonardo Bonucci thought he had scored, only for a VAR review to show he had been offside as he bundled the ball in from close range.

The result puts the under-fire Koeman under pressure, with the club suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time under his stewardship.

Forward Antoine Griezmann, however, said the defeat was not Koeman's fault. “Who else's fault could it be other than the players? We're the ones who go out there and play,” he said.

“We were missing everything: desire, attitude, a willingness to run. Everything was bad.

“We've left a really bad image here tonight, for ourselves and for the fans.”