In the first match of Group D of the UEFA Champions League 2017/2018 season taking place early this morning (September 13), Barcelona had an easy 3-0 victory over Juventus. In which, Messi contributed a double (45, 69) and the remaining goal was scored by Ivan Rakitic (56).
This was the first time Messi scored against Juventus. To be exact, it took him about 315 minutes to penetrate Buffon's net. Previously, he failed to do this in the 2014-2015 UEFA Champions League final and the 2016-17 quarter-final matches.
Speaking after the match, Coach Valverde was very proud: I feel like if you give me leo, anything can happen. But this is a good thing for us.
Leo scored a classy goal and luckily we got this privilege. He can score from any position. This is one of the most important players in the history of the team. It's easy to say good things about him.
On the other hand, Juventus head coach - Massimiliano Allegri expressed regret for his students' mistakes. They gave Messi enough space and time to show off their talent in this match.
The Italian coach shared: Barcelona are the team that can play this match really well. In the first half, I think we had a good pair of Messi and Iniesta but we couldn't do that in the second half.
Messi made the difference but Paulo Dybala not. He had 3 targets, scored 2 goals and once hit the goal. He can't stop when he has enough space.
This result is what we understand because when you face teams at such a level in the UEFA Champions League, if you can't keep your focus, you will pay the price.
We have to mature and stay focused, strong in our mentality. We have lost focus in this match.
In the same-half match of this group, Sporting Lisbon defeated Olympiacos with a score of 3-2. Thereby, Barcelona temporarily leads Group D after the first round. They are tied with Sporting Lisbon but are ranked higher due to their better goal difference.
