Barca sink Juve; Rashford shines in Man U win

MILAN: Ousmane Dembele struck early and Lionel Messi converted a late penalty as Barcelona won 2-0 at Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday after Alvaro Morata had three goals disallowed for offside for the Serie A side.

Dembele struck with a deflected shot in the 14th minute for a Barcelona side smarting from Saturday's home defeat by Real Madrid and rocked by the resignation of club president Josep Maria Bartomeu on Tuesday.

Messi capped a fluid display from Ronald Koeman's side by firing home the 14th penalty of his Champions League career to seal Barca's first-ever win over Juventus in Turin and leave them top of Group G with six points from two games.

Juventus, still missing Cristiano Ronaldo after he tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago and still rebuilding under Andrea Pirlo, failed to record a shot on target despite Morata's efforts.

Barca had three chances to take the lead in an extraordinary opening two minutes.

Leonardo Bonucci made a last-gasp tackle to stop Messi, Miralem Pjanic saw a shot parried by Wojciech Szczesny and Antoine Griezmann fired against the post, and it was no surprise when they went ahead in the 14th minute.

Juventus defender Merih Demiral was sent off for a second booking before Ansu Fati was clipped from behind and Messi emphatically converted the penalty.

Also Read: Real Madrid thrashed by Barca in first women's 'Clasico'

Also Watch: #CandidConversation With Mirchi Cooldeep, Morning Jock & Content Creator, Radio Mirchi, Guwahati