By Giulio Ricciardi
Barcelona 6-1 Roma: Roma was embarrassed on Tuesday, Nov. 24, as Barcelona put on a football clinic. The trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez proved yet again to be one of the best, if not the best, offenses in Europe by tearing apart the Roma defense. With the return of Lionel Messi from injury, I Blaugrana dominated the match from the start and never slowed down.
Barcelona has had a dominant start to their Champions League title defense. The team has picked up 13 points from four wins and one draw, clinching its spot in first place and in the Round of 16. In contrast, Roma has had a tough Champions League run. They’ve only managed to get five points in five games but still narrowly hold onto second place in the table.
The match began with a classic Barcelona performance as they dominated possession over their opponents. Despite this, Roma forward Edin Dzeko would have the first real chance as he missed an unmarked header and failed to capitalize. Roma proved to regret this as Barcelona opened the floodgates in the 15th minute.
Luiz Suarez finished a close range shot with ease as the hosts grabbed the lead. Messi doubled that lead only three minutes later as he chipped the ball into the net. However, the hosts scored again immediately in the second half through Suarez and never looked back. Further goals from Pique, Messi and Adriano heaped misery on Roma, and despite a late consolation goal through Dzeko, Barcelona cruised to a comfortable victory.
Juventus 1-0 Manchester City: Juventus picked up a narrow victory over Man City at home to secure first place in their group table. Croatian forward and summer signing Mario Mandzukic found the back of the net to grant the hosts an important victory in securing their spot in the Round of 16.
With Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach rounding out the group, many believed that this would be a miniature group of death with close matches and a tight table. Despite this, both Juve and Man City have both lived up to the tag of group favorites. Both teams are firmly in control of their destiny and have booked spots in the Round of 16. While Juventus are striving to replicate their European form from last year that led them to the final, Man City looks to break their European curse over the past few years.
Juventus needed a win to clinch their spot to the next round, and they proved to be up to the task. The hosts scored early in the 15th minute when Alex Sandro whipped in a dangerous cross to Mandzukic who one-timed a shot home into the back of the net, leaving Joe Hart with no chance. The Croatian forward proved yet again to be an annoyance to the City backline as he scored his second goal in 2 matches against them. Despite both teams having multiple chances, the match would surprisingly end 1-0 for the hosts, who maintained their momentum.
