April 11, 2017

Juventus go into the second leg of the quarter final of the champions league against Barcelona with a 3 goal advantage.

A first half brace from striker Paulo Dybala and a third from defender Giorgio Chiellini before the half hour mark was enough to codemn the Catalans to a second loss in the space of 5 days.

The home side started the game brightly, seeing alot of possesion in the first five minutes with 57% ball possesion. Paulo dybala opened the scoring in the 7th minute after a Cuadrado ball picked the Argentine who ended up slotting the ball past Ter Stergen. Juventus began to threaten with Leo Messi the catalyst but an astute Juventus were quick to fend off the pressure and ended up with a counter that finished with Mario Mandzukic sending a cross into the box and Dybala finishing to give the home side a two goal cushion just before the half hour mark.

Sergio Busquets absence in the Barca midfield allowed Sami Khedira show his supremacy and bossed the middle effectively. The first half ended with Juventus’ lead intact. Just after the restart, Jeremy Mathieu was substituted for Andre Gomes in a tactical tweak by Luis Enrique. Andres Iniesta pushed the Juventus backline in search for a way to back into the game as Barcelona enjoyed more ball possession.

Giorgio Chiellini added the third goal from a corner with Pjanic providing the assist as the defender rose the highest to score.

Barcelona failed to score any away goal and face an uphill task to qualify to the next round of the competition. Neverthless, you can’t write them off as they completed one of if not the greatest comeback of the competition against PSG .