Lionel Messi-less Barcelona thrash Cristiano Ronaldo-powered Juventus 3-0, Watch

Barcelona team celebrate after scoring against Juventus in the 2021 Joan Gamper Trophy. (Source: Twitter)

Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona began preparations for the new season and life after talismanic Lionel Messi with a 3-0 win over Juventus, featuring Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata, 3-0 at the Johan Cruyff Stadium in the 2021 Joan Gamper Trophy. Goals by Memphis Depay (3rd minute), Martin Brathwaite (57th minute) and Riqui Puig (90+2 minute) ensured a comprehensive win for Barcelona against Serie A side Juventus, who failed to open the scoring.

Barcelona started the game with an early strike in the first five minutes after kick-off as Yusuf Demir released Memphis Depay and the Dutchman didn’t disappoint in a one-on-one with Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny of Juventus, with Dutch start Depay finding the mark within three minutes. The home team continue to push forward with plenty of movement and smart passing, and Demir and Memphis were the stars of the show with their incisiveness and creativity.

Demir had a goal disallowed for offside, and French striker Antoine Griezmann had a goal of his own called off for the same reason as Barcelona failed to cap off an impressive first half with another couple of goals. Juventus were largely lifeless throughout the first half an hour but slowly started to bring danger on the counter-attack, and Barcelona goalkeeper Neto made two important saves on shots by Spanish striker Álvaro Morata and Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo in the final moments of the first half.

BOOM! !! @RIQUIPUIG MAKES IT 3-0 ON THE FINAL PLAY OF THE GAME! #BarcaJuve #TrofeuGamper pic.twitter.com/ofNfJNWR93

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 8, 2021

Juventus made a strong start to the second half, with halftime substitutes bringing plenty of energy and intensity into the attack and Federico Chiesa had moments of brilliance that required Neto to intervene again.

Slowly but surely the Juve pressure lost some steam and Barcelona had a comfortable end to the game where they controlled possession and tried to get a third. And that’s what they did with the final kick of the game, when a very good team passing sequence ended with a great goal by Riqui Puig to make it 3-0 as the final whistle sounded.