Lionel Messi has yet to score from open play this season, his only three goals coming from the penalty spot. At times his finishing makes it appear as though he could care less about scoring for the club that strong-armed him into staying in Barcelona colors this year.
But the Argentine can still strike the ball like few who have ever played the game.
Barcelona beat Juventus 2-0 on Wednesday in an anticipated Champions League Group G clash made slightly less anticipated by the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who still has the Covid. While we didn’t get to see Messi and Ronaldo clash for the first time since the Portuguese striker left Real Madrid, we did get to see Messi show off what could be his future as a footballer, whether with Barcelona or whoever else offers him enough money at the end of this season.
The match lacked the finishing quality you’d hope for in a match between two of Europe’s most historic clubs. The first goal came off a bad deflection, the second in the dying minutes from the penalty spot.
But make no mistake: The assist from Messi on Ousmane Dembélé’s goal demanded the French winger do something great with the ball when he arrived at his feet like a gift from the soccer gods. Watch as Messi first-times his ball across the pitch to find Dembélé, who must’ve felt obliged to turn that pass into a goal.
¡Goooooooooool del Barcelona!
Dembélé le pegó con todo y gracias a un desvío pone en ventaja a los culés. @juventusfces 0-1 @FCBarcelona_es #UCL | #Juventus | #BarcelonaEn vivo
TUDN
Síguelo aquí https://t.co/ivYrOXjXWP pic.twitter.com/5at5C1AkDk— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) October 28, 2020
The goal doesn’t go in without that deflection, but the lead was fully deserved for Barcelona, which struck the post and had twice as many chances as Juventus in the first half.
The pass from Messi demonstrated what could be the Argentine’s future: As a deep-lying playmaker. Imagine him at Manchester City spraying passes to the likes of Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva, with Sergio Aguero or Gabriel Jesus looking to skip in behind defenses.
And Messi still has the best dribbling skills in the world to escape trouble, whether in midfield or in the box looking for a goal. It’s just a shame Messi’s finishing has been off this season, otherwise Barcelona might have won by three or four.
¡Ufffff cerca Messi!
Qué jugada del Barcelona iniciada por el juvenil Pedri. @juventusfces 0-1 @FCBarcelona_es #UCL | #Juventus | #BarcelonaEn vivo
TUDN
Síguelo aquí https://t.co/ivYrOXjXWP pic.twitter.com/XOTXihAENc— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) October 28, 2020
Though the match finished 2-0, it wasn’t for lack of trying for more goals as there was plenty of action at both ends of the pitch.
Juventus pressed well and put Barcelona under pressure at times, but when that press was broken, Barça was able to maintain comfortable possession and create dozens of opportunities. Compared to the possession-allergic performance against Real Madrid on the weekend, this looked like a classic Barcelona side, using its quality all over the pitch to suck the life out of the opponent.
Juventus, meanwhile, had a hat trick of goals by Alvaro Morata called back for (correct) offside calls.
The worst part of the match was that it wasn’t available on TV in the U.S. CBS, in its infinite ineptitude, has decided not to show any Champions League matches on TV, hiding them all behind the paywall of CBS All Access. Wednesday highlighted the folly of that decision. The Golazo Show, CBS’s whip-around coverage of the Champions League on CBS Sports Network, showed about 80 percent Barça-Juve and the rest other highlights. For fans who just want to watch one game but can’t afford All Access, this was endlessly frustrating. To make matters worse, while most of the 90 minutes followed the match in Turin, the Golazo Show still managed to miss some of the biggest moments of the match, including the opening goal, two of Morata’s offside goals and Weston McKennie’s arrival on the pitch.
Speaking of McKennie, the American replaced winger Dejan Kulusevski in the 75th minute and was deployed essentially as a left winger. McKennie was mostly used as a box-to-box midfielder, right midfielder or right fullback at Schalke, but on Wednesday found himself in a position you’d more expect to see Cristiano Ronaldo, even popping up as a false nine at one point.
McKennie nearly scored on his first opportunity, cutting inside before hitting a shot from 20 yards out well wide. Unfortunately, McKennie didn’t get another chance, as Merih Demiral picked up a second yellow card in the 85th minute and McKennie shifted back into a holding midfield position for the remainder of the game.
In another interesting positional note, Barcelona center back Ronald Araújo was subbed out (for a presumed injury) at halftime and replaced by Sergio Busquets. Interestingly, Ronald Koeman trusted not the experienced Busquets but his Dutch boy Frenkie de Jong to slot in at center back, with Gerard Pique missing this match for a red card last week.
It made you wonder what Ronaldo could have done with Barcelona’s makeshift back line had he been able to play.
Alas, Barcelona finally put the match away in the dying minutes when Ansu Fati drew a penalty kick, which Messi converted for his third goal of the season.
¡Gooooooooool del Barcelona!
Messi no falla y pone el segundo para los blaugranas. ¡El Barcelona le está pegando a la Juventus en Turín! @juventusfces 0-2 @FCBarcelona_es #UCL | #Juventus | #BarcelonaEn vivo
TUDN
Síguelo aquí https://t.co/ivYrOXjXWP pic.twitter.com/vJclLmXYbJ— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) October 28, 2020
While we would have loved to see better finishing (or Morata capable of staying onside for once in his damn life), Juve-Barcelona lived up to its billing as the match to watch in the group stage, even without Ronaldo. Now we can’t wait for their next meeting on Dec. 8 at the Camp Nou.
