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Five talking points from Barcelona's win against Juventus

Barcelona were ousted from the Champions League last season at the quarter-final stage by Juventus and the recent 3-0 victory is certainly a sweet revenge for the Catalan giants.

File Photo: Lionel Messi

Bengaluru, September 13: Lionel Messi inspired Barcelona to a 3-0 victory against Juventus at the Camp Nou in their first Champions League encounter of the season.

The Blaugrana were ousted of the Champions League by Juventus last season from quarter-final and beating them 3-0 is certainly a sweet revenge from the Catalan giants.

A sensational brace from Messi and a goal from Ivan Rakitic saw the Catalan club move to the top of Group D thanks to a comfortable victory at home.

Here are the major talking points from the game.

Andres Iniesta has plenty left in his locker

The last couple of seasons were nothing spectacular for Andres Iniesta and many thought that the Spanish maestro is all but finished. But, the Spaniard delivered a magical performance against Juventus last night proving that he still has plenty to offer.

The veteran midfielder was untouchable in the first half, his finest moment a mazy dribble crudely brought to an end by Blaise Matuidi’s desperate foul.

Dybala might be the heir of Messi but he has to wait for a few years

Juventus forward Paulo Dybala has been considered as the heir to Messi’s throne in recent times but Messi proved that he won’t be abdicating anytime soon. So, Dybala has to wait to get his throne from his compatriot.

Dybala was bright in the first half on the few occasions he was given the ball, but by contrast Messi was much more decisive. Messi’s finishing proved that he is much superior to Dybala and that will not change soon.

Barcelona are dangerous from the right flank

Barcelona caused Juventus all sorts of problems from the right flank as two new arrivals Nelson Semedo and Ousmane Dembele combined perfectly with each other.

Semedo has slotted in perfectly in the defence and the French winger is already wrecking havoc in attack. Dembele started the move which led to Barcelona’s first goal and played an important role in the second one too, even though it was Messi who created it.

Juventus need defensive reorganisation

Juventus might be well-known for their excellent and stubborn defence but Barcelona did not find it too hard to cause havoc to the Italians’ defence. With Giorgio Chiellini out injured, Juventus lined up in a 4 at the back system with de Scigilo, Barzagli, Benatia and Alex Sandro.

De Scigilo came off injured in the first half and after that, Barcelona totally dominated the Juve defence. Allegri will have plenty of concerns with his backline after the heavy defeat.

Suarez wasteful, Higuain even worse

Both the high-profile number nines of the two teams had a game to forget. Luis Suarez has been pretty poor off late and nothing changed last night as the Uruguayan was not only wasteful with his finishing but he found it hard to combine with his teammates.

Gonzalo Higuain, meanwhile, had an even worse night for Juventus. The striker barely got any service and saw his only opportunity deflected by Gerard Pique into the arms of Ter Stegen.

Story first published: Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 12:10 [IST]
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