Misfiring Barca to struggle in Turin
In one of the showpiece ties of the Champions League group stage Juventus host Barcelona, with the Catalan Giants coming in off the back of a humbling 3-1 El Clasico defeat at Camp Nou. Both teams were comfortably victorious on matchday one and will want to assert their authority in the race for top spot in Group G. Andrea Pirlo’s men have endured a slow start to their Serie A title defence, but remain favourites to retain their title and are an intriguingly outsiders for this clash on home soil, somewhat to do with the absentees in their squad due to COVID-19. Barca are narrow favourites, value is with the Old Lady.
Team news
Sadly Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for COVID-19 very recently and misses this fixture as a result. Therefore, the dream Messi Vs Ronaldo tie will not be taking place this time around, but there are still plenty of players to be getting excited about. Ansu Fati and Dejan Kulusevski aside this is a chance to take in the evolutions of these two European super powers, with new faces both on and off the pitch this season.
Ones to watch
Former Atalanta youngster Dejan Kulusevski joined up with Juve in the summer after an impressive loan spell at Parma in 2019/20. The Swede bagged 10 goals and chipped in with nine assists, attracting interest from the Serie A champions, at just 20 he is a great prospect. He has scored twice already for his new club, in league games against Sampdoria and Hellas Verona, looking to step up on the biggest stage of his career so far.
One of the forgotten men of European football is back in action for Ronald Koeman’s men, World Cup winner Ousmane Dembele has struggled with injury and consistency since his transfer from Borussia Dortmund. The Frenchman is still a precocious talent at 23 and has almost equaled his appearances of last term already, if he can rediscover his form of his debut season in Spain where he bagged 14 goals and eight assists then Barca have a world class player in the making.
For me Juve are the more reliable punt here, having got the upside of the Arthur and Miralem Pjanic swap deal and are unbeaten domestically so far. Lionel Messi is not the same player now his head has been turned, the Old Lady should be favourites.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
A frustrating evening, three disallowed goals from Alvaro Morata but Barca come away with a 2-0 win.