BARCELONA ROLL OVER
Messi & Co in need of another miracle comeback after being rumbled by Juve
WE expected an Argentine superstar to have us on the edge of our seats in this heavyweight contest.
We didn’t expect it not to be Lionel Messi.
Paulo Dybala, the cheeky young upstart from Juventus, upstaged his countryman to announce himself as the leading contender to the king of world football’s crown.
With two finishes of the highest quality, Dybala put Max Allegri’s side on course to avenge their defeat in the 2015 final to Barcelona.
The 23-year-old also set up another potentially epic second leg, perhaps even one to match the sensational showdown between Barca and Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round.
Giorgio Chiellini added a third and, for Messi, bullied out of the first leg of that tie in Paris, this must have been deja vu. Even the referee for that shock 4-0 defeat, Szymon Marciniak, was back in charge here.
Lightning surely won’t strike twice in the second leg on April 19 though. There is a steel about Allegri’s Italian champions that PSG simply didn’t have.
Juventus grabbed this game by the throat from the outset and squeezed the life out of it.
Even before Dybala’s tour de force, Gonzalo Higuain sent a free header into the arms of Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen when he should have scored in the fourth minute. Dybala’s first, three minutes later, was outstanding. Juan Cuadrado threaded a clever ball through to him on the right of the box and he curled a sumptuous, diagonal effort around the keeper.
Messi responded with a free-kick over the bar and a superb pass to release Andres Iniesta. The midfield magician was denied by Gianluigi Buffon. The save would prove crucial.
Just 76 seconds later, Juve were two up. Mario Mandzukic attacked down the left, cut the ball back to Dybala and the Argentine curled another magnificent shot into the bottom corner.
Barca had a Messi goal ruled out on the half hour for offside but were soon back under pressure with Ter Stegen saving from Higuain either side of half time.
The Barca keeper could do nothing about Chiellini’s header from a corner to make it 3-0 on 55 minutes.
Barca could have had a penalty when Chiellini handled Neymar’s shot in the 70th minute. But Juve were full value for their win. Next stop, the Nou Camp...