Juventus held Barcelona to a goalless draw at Camp Nou, which was enough to see them comfortably through to the semifinals. There was no repeat of the Barcelona heroics that saw them beat PSG in the previous round.Barcelona 0-0 Juventus (0-3 agg.)
Juventus made sure there were no more miracles at Camp Nou on Wednesday, as the Italian visitors held Barcelona to a 0-0 draw and advanced to the Champions League semifinals.
The second-leg stalemate sealed a 3-0 win on aggregate and came six weeks after Barcelona’s historic 6-1 thrashing of Paris Saint-Germain, when the home side became the first team to ever overturn a 4-0 loss in the competition.
Juventus showed all the poise and experience that PSG had sorely lacked in the previous round.
“Juventus is a great team and they were better than us,” Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said. “It was a difficult result to turn around, although we tried until the end. They are an Italian club and defend very well. I wish them the best and I think they can win the title.”
True to the Italian tradition of defending an advantage, The Juventus defense gave goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon little work to do until late in the game. Massimiliano Allegri’s side expertly absorbed Barcelona’s high-paced passing attack that ultimately produced few good scoring opportunities.
And when Lionel Messi did get free inside the area, Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer squandered both his chances to spark a fightback.
The only miracle seen in Barcelona this time was Juventus not getting a late goal with the Spanish side barely having legs to recover on defense.
Juventus joins Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Monaco in the semifinal draw on Friday.
mds/dv (AP, Reuters)
