Aside from the 2015 Champions League final, 12 years ago was the last time Barcelona and Juventus played each other, it was also the night Messi showed how good he really was.
We should just post our recap from the first leg between Juventus and Porto, really, because they were basically the same game.
Both teams looked dangerous, with Juventus controlling a bit more of the possession, until Porto did something stupid, Juventus scored and that was that.
This time, it was a Maxi Pereira red card for blocking the ball with an outstretched arm after a shot from Gonzalo Higuain. Paulo Dybala converted the penalty and the tie was over, with Porto's poor finishing helping to put a lid on things.
This week in Serie A, results pretty much panned out how you’d expect. Roma thrashed Palermo. Pescara lost again. Fiorentina overcame a stolid start to snatch a last-gasp, undeserved winner. Juventus won at home. So there’s not much to talk about, right? Not quite.
The appointed heir to Gianluigi Buffon as Italy’s No. 1, could it be possible that AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma will eventually dwarf the Juventus legend? The 18-year-old goalkeeper was sensational in Milan’s highly controversial defeat to Juventus, recording nine saves and showcasing his strength, agility and tenacity.
The fight for second place in Serie A is serious business. Roma and Napoli are not fighting solely for the privilege of finishing behind Juventus, but battling to avoid a Champions League playoff qualifying spot. So bad is the history of Italian teams in the playoff rounds that Italy has, more often than not in recent years, only had two representatives in the group stages of Europe’s premier footballing tournament.
Thus, when Roma and Napoli played one another this weekend, the chance to finish in second was up for grabs.
The offseason purchases of Mirlalem Pjanic from Roma (€32 million) and Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli (€75.3 million) haven’t debilitated the selling clubs, but they have had the desired effect for Juventus. Higuain has scored 19 goals, tied with Edin Dzeko for the most in the league, and no Juventus player has more assists than Pjanic.
Even more importantly, Napoli, the team that ran them closest last season, will come short of last season’s total of 82 points while Juventus look poised to surpass their own total of 91. There’s no surer gauge of the impact of that transfer.
The world’s most popular sport is made up of more than just talent. These footballers have proven to us that they have swag on the field as well as off it. These 15 players ditched the athletic wear and replaced it with a whole bunch of style. Their sweaters, shades and shoes are giving us some serious style goals. Take a look at the most stylish footballers on Instagram.
Porto are nearly unbeatable at home, but not when Alex Telles gets a red card, which he did, earning two yellows in the span of 74 seconds against Juventus Wednesday.
After Telles was sent off in the 27th minute, Porto scrapped and clawed, but in the end the collective talents of Juventus were simply too much for the Portuguese side.
The three-headed monster that is the Juventus defense will be without Leonardo Bonucci, who has the most minutes of the three in both Serie A and the Champions League, for Juventus’ first leg match against Porto. The club has every right to believe that the strength of Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli in defense will be enough at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao, but the loss of Bonucci can only benefit the Portuguese club.
Citing a desire to not be the coach that’s guilty of retiring Francesco Totti, Roma’s Luciano Spalletti has threatened to quit if Totti is not offered another one-year contract extension this summer.
The 40-year-old Roman has neither confirmed nor denied a desire to play next season, but the future of the personal embodiment of the club trumps all other focuses, according to Spalletti.