Cristiano Ronaldo scores his team’s third goal during the UEFA
Champions League group G football match between Barcelona and
Juventus at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on December 8,
2020.Josep LAGO / AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice from the penalty spot to
win his battle with rival Lionel Messi and guide Juventus to a 3-0
win over Barcelona on Tuesday, earning the Italians top spot in
Champions League Group G.
The former Real Madrid striker and his Argentina counterpart
traded Ballon d’Or wins for a decade between 2008-2017 and were
figureheads for the duelling Spanish giants, but there was only one
winner at the Camp Nou as they met for the first time since
Ronaldo’s departure for Juve in 2018.
Andrea Pirlo’s Juventus lost 2-0 at home against Barcelona in
October without Ronaldo, sidelined with Covid-19, but were greatly
improved and earned the first Champions League away win against
Barcelona since Bayern Munich triumphed in 2013.
Both sides, tied on 15 points, were assured of qualification
before kick-off, but Juve’s three-goal victory handed them a
superior head-to-head record.
Ronald Koeman, reeling from Barcelona’s 2-1 defeat by promoted
minnows Cadiz on Saturday in La Liga, reacted by making four
changes but the hosts started badly.
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It only took 13 minutes for Ronaldo to break the deadlock,
slotting home from the penalty spot after the referee deemed Ronald
Araujo’s challenge on him a foul.
Juventus did not relent and their pressure led to a second goal,
US midfielder Weston Mckenzie volleying home Juan Cuadrado’s
sweetly clipped cross in the 20th minute.
The Catalans and their captain Messi finally woke from their
slumber, as the attacker had one effort blocked by Matthijs de Ligt
and another saved by veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, while
Pjanic lashed over the bar.
Ronaldo notched his second from the penalty spot in the 52nd
minute after Clement Lenglet handled clumsily in the area, as the
hosts imploded.
Antoine Griezmann, who was invisible in the first half, grazed
the crossbar with a looping header from a Messi free kick, and
Buffon beat out another effort, with De Ligt’s pressure enough to
stop Martin Braithwaite converting the rebound.
Leonardo Bonucci had a fourth goal ruled out for offside after
he tapped in Ronaldo’s effort from close range, with Messi trying
in vain at the other end to answer Ronaldo, but he found the
42-year-old Buffon in his way time and time again.
AFP
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