Portuguese superstar gets the better of Argentine rival Lionel Messi by scoring brace as Juventus hammer Barcelona 3-0; Italian giants top group
Juventusu00c3u0083u00c2u00a2u00c3u0082u00c2u0080u00c3u0082u00c2u0099 Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring against Barca during their UEFA Champions League match on Tuesday. Pics/Getty Images; 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.
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A disappointed Lionel Messi of Barcelona
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.
Improved Juventus
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.
Infallible Ron
"When you have this desire to sacrifice yourself and an infallible sniper, like Ronaldo, you are sure you can win these matches," Bonucci said. "As we showed in the derby [win over Torino], if we play with this desire, we bring home the results we want. The next step is to do this in all our games."
'We were not good enough'
Striker Antoine Griezmann was critical of his own side after they fell to their first home Champions League group stage defeat since 2009. "We were not good enough, they over-ran us in the first half, we lacked everything," he told Movistar. "A lack of attitude, desire, wanting to run, defending, attacking, everything was bad," he added.
One
No. of times Barcelona have lost a Champions League group stage game at home since 2009
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