Kick-off: 2000, 08/12/2020
Stadium: Camp Nou
TV: BT Sport
Barcelona and Juventus have both safely qualified from Champions League Group G but top spot is still up for grabs when they meet at Camp Nou.
The Catalan giants are in pole position, leading by three points courtesy of a 2-0 victory in Turin back on Matchday 2, when they were clearly the better team.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed that contest but could now renew his epic rivalry with Lionel Messi.
Even so, we’re expecting a similar outcome and 23/20 for Blaugrana to prevail again is our first Barcelona vs Juventus prediction.
A Look At Barcelona’s Betting Odds
Barca had almost 60 per cent of the possession when these teams met in Italy and controlled proceedings with some slick passing.
It took a freakish Ousmane Dembele strike and Messi’s last-gasp penalty to settle the issue, but we still felt that was a convincing display.
Ronald Koeman’s side have also hammered Ferencvaros 8-1 on aggregate and Dynamo Kyiv 6-1, albeit labouring to a lacklustre 2-1 triumph in the home leg of that double header.
Koeman rested Messi for a 3-0 win at Ferencvaros on Matchday 5 but his supporting cast stepped up to the plate in impressive fashion.
Antoine Griezmann and Martin Braithwaite finished off neat moves in fine style before Ousmane Dembele struck from the penalty spot, all in a scintillating first half an hour.
“I think we played a great first 45 minutes and then in the second half we missed opportunities to score more goals, but it’s a good win,” said Koeman.
“It’s a big competition and we’d like to continue like that. Hopefully we can win the last match against Juventus as well.”
Last season’s humbling 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals was a low point in Barca’s recent history and Koeman will be keen to avoid facing one of the big guns early on in the knockout rounds this term.
Looking at the Barcelona vs Juventus odds, we like 12/5 for the hosts to lead at half-time and full-time again here.
A Look At Juventus’ Betting Odds
Juve have picked up maximum points from their other four games, so could still snatch first place if they win by three goals or more, or any two-goal margin other than 2-0.
The Bianconeri needed a last-gasp Alvaro Morata effort to come from behind and beat Ferencvaros 2-1 in Turin on Matchday 4.
However, they impressed more in a 3-0 triumph over Dynamo Kyiv that kept them in contention on Barca’s heels.
Ronaldo netted his 750th career goal in that game and could easily have had a hat-trick, so he looks as hungry as ever.
Juve will point to three disallowed Morata goals in the first meeting with Barca and Andrea Pirlo is looking forward to the return fixture.
He said: “It’s a special game. It was great to play in it as a player and it will be great as a coach as well.”
However, both the manager and several players were quick to highlight the importance of Saturday’s Turin derby as well and we fear playing in that game could affect them here.
For our final Barcelona vs Juventus prediction, we’re taking 4/1 for the hosts to prevail 2-1, 3-1 or 4-1 from the multiple correct score market.
Additional stats
Last Champions League result:
Ferencvaros 0-3 BARCELONA – Antoine Griezmann, Martin Braithwaite, Ousmane Dembele (pen)
JUVENTUS 3-0 Dynamo Kyiv – Federico Chiesa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Morata
Head-to-head: Juventus 0-2 Barcelona, Juventus 0-0 Barcelona, Barcelona 3-0 Juventus, Barcelona 0-0 Juventus, Juventus 3-0 Barcelona
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