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ItalyThanks to Messi’s injury time, Barça beat Juventus 2-0 in the second round of the Champions League group stage on October 28.
Goals: Dembélé 14 ‘, Messi (penalty) 90’ + 1.
Red card: Demiral 85 ‘.
Messi’s three goals since the start of the season are at the 11-meter mark. Image: Reuters.
The day before his guest trip to Turin, Lionel Messi won a power battle with Josep Maria Bartomeu when the 57-year-old businessman resigned from the Barça presidency. When the man Mess called “broke his promise” left the Camp Nou, his inspiration returned almost immediately to the Argentine superstar with his fingerprints on the two goals against Juventus.
At 14 minutes, from Messi, the ball reached the foot of Ousmane Dembélé on the right wing. The French winger cut down the middle, messing up. The ball touched Federico Chiesa, changing direction, causing goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to stalk the ball towards the net. In the last minute of the official match, substitute Federico Bernardeschi fouled Ansu Fati in the penalty area. Messi coldly duped Szczesny at the 11-meter mark, making it 2-0.
Besides a goal and an assist, Messi also impresses with a host of other stats. He shot the most (4 times) and was the attacker who touched the ball the most (109 times). In the 4-2-3-1 diagram used by Ronald Koeman at the Allianz Arena, all of Barça’s ball lines passed Messi’s feet, before moving to the home side. Along with Dembélé’s starter, Messi passed the most successful (6 times) and had 6 decisive passes (key passes), putting his teammates in a position that he could finish.
Demiral received a red card in the 85th minute, ending Juventus’ hopes of going against the grain. Image: Reuters.
There is Messi playing the ball as if he were dancing on the field, his teammates also “move”. Antoine Griezmann, who has been criticized by Arsene Wenger for “stalling”, has up to two shots to touch Juventus. In the second minute, the French striker had a quick leg in the mess in front of the “Lao Ba” goal, carrying the ball to the post. In the 75th minute, receiving Messi’s crack, Griezmann fired from a narrow angle, sending the ball licking the edge of the far column.
Clement Lenglet, the low-powered midfielder in the El Clásico match, plays mature even though his partner is junior Ronald Araujo. In the second half, when Araujo was injured and had to leave the field, Frenkie De Jong took a step back to take his place, Lenglet kept playing. He was often present at the right time, separating the three Juventus attackers from the highest kicker in attack, Álvaro Morata. Lenglet’s success was to make Morata only make one touch in the Barça penalty area, and Paulo Dybala and Dejan Kulusevski not once.
The joy of Dembélé behind the opener. Image: AFP.
From the defeat in El Clásico to the victory in Turin there are only four days of difference, but Barça is like a different team, while their opponents lose their charm to score. Morata, a former Real player who was expected to fill the void left by Ronaldo, was rejected by the VAR three times. At 15 minutes, a minute after Dembélé’s first goal, Morata let the ball touch his hand as he tried to pass Neto’s goalkeeper, before putting the ball into the net. 15 minutes later, he scuttled behind Araujo to catch a cross down the right wing from Juan Cuadrado, then leaned over to carry the ball into the far corner, but was again caught offside.
Off the pitch, Andrea Pirlo was thoughtful, shook his hands in his jacket pockets and shook his head in dismay as Juventus was denied a goal time and again by VAR. Ten minutes after the break, the sadness reached its peak as Morata continued to be denied. The Spanish striker kicked together very fast, after the way to bring the ball from the right wing of Cuadrado. Neto did not react in time, and Morata immediately hugged the ball and ran towards the center of the field for Barça to serve. However, referee Danny Makkelie has not allowed Barça to serve immediately, because he is waiting for the signal from the VAR team. Morata’s scared and scared face couldn’t help him sign his name on the electronic board, as the VAR determined that his left foot was below Lenglet when Cuadrado passed.
Pirlo spoke a lot about Messi before the game, even considering locking up the owner of the six Ballon d’Or as the shortest path to victory, but the reality on the field did not show it. With two central midfielders spread out, “Lao She” often reveals gaps in front of 16m50, Messi’s favorite space every time he passes the remote interception line. Although Adrien Rabiot has up to five tackles, three successful interceptions (surpassing these two parameters after the game), the danger to Szczesny is not so diminished, because his partner Rodrigo Bentancur always tends to rush. over.
Morata hugged the ball to the center line, after his third shot against Barça, but the VAR denied him the goal. Image: AFP.
At the post-match press conference, Koeman called the match against Juventus the most impressive performance since leading Barça. That is also the origin of Barça’s only meeting in this game, when they lack coldness to finish off the rival. Opening the scoring early, the Catalan team has dozens of opportunities to double the gap. In the 23rd minute, Messi turned and kicked the ball to the wrong post in a comfortable position in the penalty area. 10 minutes later, Dembélé and Griezmann had two situations to face Szczesny but were hesitant to shoot immediately and miss the opportunity.
After Araujo’s injury and having to use De Jong in the center position, Barça got more into the team and maximized their ability to hold the ball. The visitors’ possession rate of 59% at the end of the match not only helped Koeman’s army reduce the pressure on Neto’s goal, but also made the Juventus defense eager to move up. From those moments, Dembélé and Messi have three more chances to score, but the ball refuses to enter the net.
If the Barça striker has more luck and precision, the difference at the end of the match could be more than two goals. Image: EPA.
Pirlo didn’t want to lose his biggest game since taking over. That determination was made concrete by his students and he found ways to argue. Square kept breaking the box. Midfielders Leonardo Bonucci and Merih Demiral soar high to increase the ability to intercept from distance. However, the Juventus election failed. In the 74th minute, Cuadrado fell into the penalty area and Makkelie showed him a yellow card. Demiral constantly puts himself in the position of chasing the Barça forward. He made two similar mistakes, 15 minutes apart, when tackled from behind with Messi and Miralem Pjanic, and then took an early shower with five minutes to go.
In the 10-on-11 stance, Juventus couldn’t find a draw when there was no better option than to fill the ball for Morata, which they usually do with Ronaldo. Messi’s 11-meter mark goal not only forced Pirlo to receive his first loss as an “Old Lady” manager, but also lengthened the series of disappointments for the defending Serie A champions when the number one star was missing. . In the last four games, they only won one and tied two.
The game against Barça does not have a decisive meaning, as Pirlo said, because the other two teams in Group G of the Champions League are Dynamo Kiev, Ferencvaros in the bottom row. Juventus continues to occupy second place thanks to the tie of the other two rivals, but needs to beat Spezia this weekend to enter the top 4 of Serie A. On the contrary, the storm with Barça, after losing to Real Madrid is over. They will take the opportunity to face two underprivileged Alavés and Real Betis to improve their standings, before facing Atlético on November 22.
Team
Juventus: Szczesny; Demiral, Bonucci, Danilo; Square, Bentancur (Arthur 83 ‘), Rabiot (Bernardeschi 83’), Kulusevski (McKennie 75 ‘); Church, Dybala, Morata
Unused subs: Buffon, De Winter, Frabotta, Pinsoglio, Portanova, Ramsey, Riccio
Barça: Grandchild; Alba, Lenglet, Araujo (Busquets 46), Roberto; de Jong, Pjanic; Dembélé (Fati 66), Pedri (Braithwaite 90 + 2), Griezmann (Firpo 89); Messi
Unused subs: Alena, Dest, Pena, Puig, Tenas, Trincao.
Thang nguyen
