Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated after scoring two penalties to lead Juventus to a 3-0 win against Barcelona in their UEFA Champions League Group G match on Tuesday, one-upping Lionel Messi in the renewal of the head-to-head matchup between the two greatest players of their generation.
Twice Ronaldo leaped, twisted and landed with both arms thrust downward as if he were driving a flag into conquered terrain at Camp Nou.
No team who had come to play at Messi’s Barcelona had left with a victory in more than seven years in the Champions League.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The commanding win in the last game of the group phase clinched Juventus first place in Group G on a better head-to-head record than Barcelona after both finished level on 15 points.
Both teams had already comfortably qualified for the next stage prior to the match.
With Ronaldo 35 and Messi 33 years old, both stars played like this could be the last time they face off in their illustrious rivalry that enthralled Spain for nearly a decade before Ronaldo in 2018 left Real Madrid for Serie A.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It was a great team effort,” Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci said. “When you take the pitch with this will to sacrifice for each other, for the good of the team, and you have a finisher like Cristiano up front, everything becomes possible.”
Ronaldo converted penalties for the 13th-minute opener and a third goal early in the second half after US midfielder Weston McKennie had doubled the advantage in the 20th minute.
Messi and Ronaldo briefly embraced with one arm behind each other’s back and exchanged a few words before kickoff at stadium that remains empty because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Photo: AFP
While Ronaldo benefited from errors by Barcelona’s defense, Messi was left to carry the workload for the frustrated hosts. The Argentina forward was unable to beat Gianluigi Buffon on his five shots on target.
“We started poorly, with fear and without any sense of aggression. It was like we didn’t want to lose the match instead of wanting to win it,” Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said. “We lost the match in the first half hour.”
Denys Popov’s header earned Dynamo Kyiv a 1-0 victory over their former star Serhiy Rebrov and Ferencvaros in the other Group G game, offering them a place in the Europa League.
In Russia, Axel Witsel scored to ensure that Borussia Dortmund topped Group F with a 2-1 win over Zenit St Petersburg.
The Belgian midfielder, who played five seasons with Zenit, scored Dortmund’s winner in the 78th minute to keep the German team atop the group, three points clear of SS Lazio, who held on for a 2-2 draw at home against 10-man Club Brugge KV.
Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko — just 16 years and 18 days old — became the youngest player ever to play in the Champions League when he came on in the 58th minute.
Dortmund were already assured of a place in the last 16, but needed a win to be sure of finishing ahead of Lazio, who advanced by avoiding defeat.
Brugge had to settle for a Europa League place, while Zenit already knew that they would finish fourth and only had pride to play for against Dortmund.
Sebastian Driussi opened the scoring for Zenit in the 16th minute.
Lukasz Piszczek equalized on a rebound in the 68th minute and Witsel was left alone by the static Zenit defense to shoot inside the right post 10 minutes later.
In England, Frank Lampard praised Chelsea’s “good progression” after Jorginho’s penalty rescued a 1-1 draw against Krasnodar in their last Champions League Group E match.
Lampard’s side had already qualified for the last 16 as group winners after beating Sevilla 4-0 last week.
Even so, they would not have wanted to lose to the Russian minnows and that was the prospect they faced after Remy Cabella put Krasnodar ahead in the first half at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard had made 10 changes from their win over Leeds United in the Premier League last weekend.
Jorginho ensured that his understrength Chelsea side were saved from embarrassment when he stroked in a penalty moments after Krasnodar’s shock opener.
Chelsea are unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions as they look to mount a Premier League title challenge and win the Champions League for a second time.
“I liked the discipline of the team. I’m very pleased. We wanted to win, but that wasn’t to be,” Lampard said. “Everyone was pretty good. There weren’t outstanding performances, but I asked the lads to be professional and they were.”
“Billy Gilmour was very good on his first start this season, as was Tino Anjorin,” he said. “I don’t think we can over-analyze the group stage. We’ve won the group and it’s good progression.”
Krasnodar finish third in the group and move on to the Europa League.
In France, Youssef En-Nesyri scored twice as Sevilla ended their games in Group E with a 3-1 win over already eliminated Stade Rennais.
There was nothing at stake for either side at Roazhon Park, with Sevilla already through in second place behind Chelsea and Rennes guaranteed to finish last in the group in their first Champions League campaign.
Defender Jules Kounde put Europa League champions Sevilla ahead in the 32nd minute with a goal from the edge of the penalty area and En-Nesyri headed his team 2-0 up in first-half stoppage time.
He added Sevilla’s third goal in the 81st minute off a pass from Oscar Rodriguez.
Rennes recorded 18 shots to eight for Sevilla, but could not make the chances count until 18-year-old forward Georginio Rutter scored a penalty on his Champions League debut in the 86th minute.
In Germany, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer refused to blame claims that Paul Pogba is “unhappy” for their Champions League exit after their 3-2 defeat against RB Leipzig in Group H.
United were punished for a slow start, conceding early goals by Manchester City loanee Angelino and Amadou Haidara before Justin Kluivert put Leipzig 3-0 up midway through the second half.
United pulled back goals in the final 10 minutes as Pogba came on to score a late header to make it 3-2 after Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty.
In the buildup, Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola said that the World Cup-winning France midfielder, 27, is “unhappy” and needs a “change of scene” after struggling to establish himself under Solskjaer.
Solksjaer gave a terse answer when asked if Raiola’s comments had unsettled his side.
“The squad is fine, they are a team and they stick together, as soon as Paul’s agent realizes it’s a team sport and we work together the better,” he said.
“That is the last thing I want to say about it,” Solksjaer said when asked if he had spoken to Pogba about Raiola’s comments.
The Norwegian blamed the defeat on his side’s lethargic start.
“We didn’t perform well enough as a team,” he said. “We knew they would come at us and put crosses in the box and, unfortunately, we conceded two goals and never got going. We just didn’t turn up until they scored the second goal — then we started playing.”
He praised his team’s fightback.
“They gave their all, I can’t fault anyone’s effort and we were close to getting the third, which would have been an achievement against a good Leipzig side,” he said.
Additional reporting by AFP
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