Ousmane Dembele’s early goal and Lionel Messi’s late penalty saw Barcelona overcome Juventus 2-0 in the Champions League in Turin.
The Italian champions suffered their first defeat under new manager Andrea Pirlo but could still take encouragement from their performance in the absence of talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, with Alvaro Morata having three goals ruled out.
Ronaldo’s absence, confirmed by another positive Covid-19 test on Tuesday, drained a little of the fixture’s star quality to deny another head-to-head with Messi, but Barcelona did not care.
Dembele’s strike may have had a touch of fortune about it, but it came courtesy of a delightful Messi assist and was backed up by an assured and dominant display by the Spanish club.