Barcelona (AFP)

Cristiano Ronaldo won his duel against his "best enemy" Lionel Messi on Tuesday for the 6th day of the Champions League (3-0), offering the first place of the group to Juventus Turin, who inflicted their first defeat of the season in C1 at FC Barcelona.

The Portuguese showed the way to his teammates by causing a penalty which he himself transformed (13th) very early in the match, before Weston McKennie, with a superb acrobatic volley from the right (20th), did not double the bet.

And Ronaldo himself scored the 3-0 penalty to give himself a double after a hand in the area of ​​Clément Lenglet, still at fault, and propel Juve to first place in the group.

Between two teams already qualified, the main interest of this shock of the 6th day of the Champions League was to attend the reunion between the Portuguese and his Argentinian rival.

And it is indeed "CR7" who emerged victorious from this tempting showdown, more seen in the Champions League since 2011.

Absent because tested positive for Covid-19 on the first leg, Ronaldo created a surprise at Camp Nou: he spearheaded the excellent first period of the Turinese on Tuesday, not hesitating to drop out to be at the base offensive construction ... and psychologically taking precedence over Messi with his early goal.

- Barça, defense in ruins -

The hug between the two living legends of world football, just before the kickoff, was misleading: it is a real duel from a distance that the two stars engaged in.

Messi too, with a few strikes outside the area (23rd, 47th) alerted the eternal goalkeeper of the "Old Lady", Gianluigi Buffon (43 years old in January).

But the Blaugrana captain was once again powerless, as in the defeat at the promoted Cadiz on Saturday (2-1) in La Liga, and had to bow to his rival.

It is especially the central defense that worries the Catalan side: in the absence of Gerard Piqué, injured until the spring, Ronald Araujo was passed on the first penalty and on Bonucci's goal canceled by the VAR (75th).

And Clément Lenglet, already at fault against Cadiz, again penalized his people on the second penalty ... which forced Ronald Koeman to launch Samuel Umtiti, back from injury, in his place (55th).

A new European disillusion for Barça, almost four months after the 8-2 wiped against Bayern Munich in Lisbon.

"CR7" has thus rebalanced its record a little against the Pulga (chip, in Spanish), with 11 victories for the Portuguese and 16 successes for the Argentinian (for nine draws) in their direct confrontations.

And Juve, in delicacy in the league (4th), served one of its most serious performances of the season at Camp Nou, to afford an unexpected first place in this gala poster, and therefore a draw a priori more affordable in 8th grade.

© 2020 AFP