3️⃣ points as Álvaro Morata misfortune helps Barcelona to victory | OneFootball

Barcelona celebrated the impending revolution at their club by putting Juventus to the sword in Turin on Wednesday night.

They certainly had to both ride their luck with Álvaro Morata’s hat-trick of offside goals and enjoy a slice of it with their opener but the feelgood factor remains high.

This is what we made of it.

Weight lifted

Was there anything more predictable here than Barcelona going out and winning after the presidential overhaul at the club last night?

Even without Ansu Fati among others from the start and still smarting from a chastening Clásico loss last time out, they looked like a side with an extra pep in their step.

Their fortunes even turned with the opener looping in via a huge deflection – everything seeming to turn in their favour after Josep Maria Bartomeu’s resignation.

Lionel Messi looked a noticeably happier presence and not just with his body language as he roamed freely and dangerously, causing problems.

Of course, you can’t read too much into one result which comes against a Juve side who are arguably the most vulnerable they’ve been in eight years, particularly with Cristiano Ronaldo sidelined.

But this is a start. The post-Bartomeu era is up and running!

Unlucky Álvaro

Is there an unluckier striker in the world than Álvaro Morata?

The Spaniard is giving us heavy flashbacks of another ex-Juve striker in Filippo Inzaghi, such is his penchant for being caught offside.

Prior to this game, he’d had two goals disallowed in three games this season but upped that tally to five in four with this outing where you couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him.

A marginal call after the Blaugrana went ahead denied him a leveller after he broke free down the right and bundled home in awkward fashion.

But the flag denied him again before the half was even out, in much clearer fashion this time.

And incredibly, it got even worse after the break when his ‘equaliser’ was initially awarded – only to be ruled out cruelly.

His Real Madrid past will have made the misfortune that bit sweeter too for Barça.

Defensive crisis is critical

While there is also the serious matter of a global pandemic to deal with, Barcelona also have a defensive epidemic on their hands too.

They travelled to Turin without Gerard Piqué due to suspension as well as Samuel Umtiti, who is, shock horror, injured once more.

So the last thing they needed was another issue to contend with in that area but it arrived when stand-in Ronald Araújo exited at half-time with an injury.

When Sergio Busquets replaced him, you naturally would have expected the defensively-minded midfielder to slot in next to Clément Lenglet at the heart of defence.

But Ronald Koeman enjoys a curveball and perhaps sees something of himself in compatriot Frenkie de Jong, who he sent into the back four instead.

It is testament to the Dutchman’s intelligence that he slotted in very well indeed – but it shouldn’t have come to this.

Time to wrap Piqué and Lenglet in miles of cotton wool!