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Both sides, tied on 15 points, were assured of qualification before kick-off, but Juves three-goal victory handed them a superior head-to-head record
Juventus' Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his team's third goal during the UEFA Champions League group G football match between Barcelona and Juventus at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on December 8, 2020. Pic/ AFP
The Catalans and their captain Messi finally woke from their slumber, as the attacker had one effort blocked by Matthijs de Ligt and another saved by veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, while Pjanic lashed over the bar. Ronaldo notched his second from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute after Clement Lenglet handled clumsily in the area, as the hosts imploded. Antoine Griezmann, who was invisible in the first half, grazed the crossbar with a looping header from a Messi free kick, and Buffon beat out another effort, with De Ligt's pressure enough to stop Martin Braithwaite converting the rebound.
Leonardo Bonucci had a fourth goal ruled out for offside after he tapped in Ronaldo's effort from close range, with Messi trying in vain at the other end to answer Ronaldo, but he found the 42-year-old Buffon in his way time and time again. 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." Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was also unhappy. "There are two things, one thing is individual mistakes, and the other is how the team defends, these are different things," he said. "Right now teams can score against us in any given moment. This is very tough, we need to come out of this, and work very hard."
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