Barcelona’s Champions League aspirations are once again in serious trouble after a 3-0 defeat to Juventus in their quarter-final first leg on Tuesday night at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.
The reigning Serie A champions put on a masterclass of football from back to front and a first-half brace from Paulo Dybala and a second-half header from Giorgio Chiellini have the Italians poised to clinch a semi-final berth when the two teams meet in the return leg on April 19.
Nothing went right for Barcelona and unlike the previous round versus PSG in which Barcelona came back from a 4-0 deficit, over-turning a 3-0 result against a team that have conceded just two goals in the entire tournament seems a task too tall for Luis Enrique’s men.
Juventus’ pace and Dybala’s finishing overwhelmed the Catalonians in the first half, while the steady presence of legendary goalkeeper Gigi Buffon and defender Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Alex Sandro in defence was the bedrock for yet another clean sheet for Juve boss Max Allegri.
As for Barcelona, the defeat marks a second consecutive match in which they failed to score, looking largely bereft of ideas in attack, while unsure and slow in defence.
MArca.com
