Paulo Dybala’s brilliant first-half brace and Giorgio Chiellini’s second-half header gave Juventus a 3-0 win over Barcelona.
Dybala has been keen to play down talk of him being Messi’s heir apparent for the Argentina national team, but twirling a wand of a left foot to fine effect on such occasions makes comparisons irresistible.
Having completed a seemingly impossible comeback by overturning a 4-0 first-leg deficit against Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round, Luis Enrique’s side now arguably face a tougher task.
It is scarcely credible to imagine Massimilino Allegri’s streetwise Juventus defence, marshalled superbly by Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini – who scored the third 10 minutes after half-time – folding as the Ligue 1 champions did in the Camp Nou cauldron.
Outgoing Barca boss Luis Enrique once again deployed the hybrid 3-4-3 he fielded to see off PSG but the result was a disorganised rabble that was picked apart by Serie A’s dominant force.
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