Juventus humiliate Barcelona thrash them 3-0

Luis Enrique and his Barcelona side received a thorough beating at the hands of Juventus who claimed a convincing 3-0 win over their visitors at Juventus Stadium, in Italy on Tuesday in the first leg, quarterfinal Champions League clash.

Paulo Dybala was the hero as he scored a brace to set the Old Lady on the path to victory, before Giorgio Chiellini made certain of it with a headed goal to give the Italian champions the advantage going into the second leg and some sort of revenge following their loss to Barca in the final of the same competition two years ago.

First Half

The game showed signs of what to expect when in the third minute, Gonzalo Higuain displayed brilliant awareness inside the six-yard box and leapt high to meet a free kick. He tried to put his header low into the middle of the target, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen kept the ball out. The game had hardly begun and the chances were rolling in.

And it would prove not to be a fluke, when four minutes later Dybala was put through by Juan Cuadrado and he showed brilliant composure inside the box to fire into the bottom left corner to give the Old Lady the lead against the team that stopped them from lifting the trophy two years ago.

The game continued to be exciting with both sides showing real attacking intent and in the 21st minute, Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a great save to deny Andres Iniesta, who made himself some space inside the box and unleashed a quick low drive to the bottom right corner, but the legendary keeper was on hand to keep his side’s lead.

And just moments later, the Italian champions were in front again, Dybala struck the ball towards goal from the edge of the penalty box and it went straight inside the left post and they were 2-0 up inside 22 minutes.

Barcelona tried to do what they do best which is to keep the ball and pass it around nicely, but Juve held on tight as they went into the break with the Italian side in the lead.

Second Half

And just two minutes into the restart, Lionel Messi found himself unmarked on the edge of the box, but he dragged his shot just wide of the right post. He should be hitting the target from there.

And as the game progressed, Juve were looking more dangerous going forward, as Higuain created some space for himself inside the penalty box and unleashed a decent strike towards the middle of the net, but Barca goalie Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a comfortable save to thwart him.

But just a minute later, the Bianconerri increased their lead. Chiellini was in the right place at the right time to meet a well-executed corner kick. His close-range header glanced off the left post into the goal and give Juve a three-goal advantage. Beginning to look like Barca’s round of 16 first leg clash against PSG at this point.

However, the third goal appeared to have gingered Barca, and they began to pour out in attack, as Luis Suarez received a great pass inside the box but missed a golden chance. Buffon once again pulled off a stunning save, and even though the Spanish champions earned a corner kick, they know they should have scored there.

But there wouldn’t be a Barca goal here as Juve smiled home with the advantage going into the second leg.