Juventus vs Barcelona: 5 Talking Points
Juventus and Barcelona played out a 0-0 draw at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Wednesday night in their Champions League Group D encounter. It is the first time Barcelona have recorded back-to-back goalless draws in the competition after drawing 0-0 with Olympiakos on Matchday 4.
However, the result sees the Catalan club remain top of the group and seal their qualification to the Round of 16. This is the 16th consecutive season that Barcelona have qualified for the knockout stages of the competition.
On the other hand, the Italian champions will have to wait till the final matchday to confirm their progress as they are just a point ahead of Sporting Lisbon who beat Olympiacos 3-1.
Here are the major talking points from the game.
#1 Tactical game of defence vs defence
Despite the wealth of attacking talent in the Juve squad, the home side never really had clear chances on goal. Of the 10 shots they managed to take, only three were on target - all saved by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Juve's forward line never really got going as Barcelona pressed hard to win the ball back and starved them of space to create chances or initiate attacking moves.
At the other end of the pitch, Juve's defence stood firm to deny Barcelona's make-shift attack on a number of occasions. Whenever Barcelona had possession, they did not have much penetration, passing the ball around Juve's tight formation to look for an opening.
36-year-old Andrea Barzagli continues to defy his age as he managed to keep pace with Luis Suarez who did make a couple of dangerous runs into the final third.