Juventus vs Barcelona Prop Bet Pick: Messi to Score Anytime?

It’s been a while since Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo went toe-to-toe on the pitch. Unfortunately, we’re not going to see the two arguably best players in the history of soccer facing one another on Wednesday. The reason is that CR7 has contracted coronavirus. However, Lionel Messi will be there, ready to help his team win the Juventus vs Barcelona battle. To do that, he’s going to try to do the thing he does the best – score some goals!

Juventus vs Barcelona Preview

These two met in 2017 the previous time. The Champions League was the competition, same as now, and the final score was 0:0. However, things were very different back then. First off, both teams had other managers in charge. Juve’s boss was Massimo Allegri, now it’s Andrea Pirlo. Barca was led by Ernesto Valverde, while their current coach is Ronald Koeman.

Another important difference is that their squads have changed significantly since 2017. Miralem Pjanic, for example, was playing for Juventus back them. Today, he’s a Barcelona player. Four other players that played for Juve in that game are no longer in Turin, and a few more have lost their starting position in the team.

It’s a similar situation with Barcelona, who had Digne, Semedo, Iniesta, Rakitic, Paulinho, Deulofeu, and Suarez in the team – none of them are in the club any longer.

Of course, both Juventus and Barcelona have brought many fantastic players in the meantime, most notably Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese legend has been one of the key players for Juve since his arrival, but we aren’t going to see him in the Juventus vs Barcelona game, which could be a serious problem for the Italian side.

Is Alvaro Morata a Good Enough Replacement for CR7?

With Cristiano Rolando out, all eyes are on Alvaro Morata, who’s been on form lately. In Juve’s first Champions League game of the season, he scored all the goals in the 2:0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv in Ukraine. He’s got experience, as well as the skills necessary to make Barcelona’s job of keeping the net safe very difficult. However, Morata is a central striker, a type of player who cannot do much without the support of his teammates from the midfield/wing.

Creative players who’ve been impressing for the Italian champion include their two new arrivals, Dejan Kulusevski and Federico Chiesa. The trouble is that these two are young and inexperienced players. Kulusevski is only 20, while Chiesa is two years his senior. Plus, neither of them has much experience with the Champions League. In fact, for both of them, the clash with Dynamo Kyiv was their Champions League debut.

An Inexperienced Manager vs Super-Experienced Manager

The game between Juventus and Dynamo Kiev was Andrea Pirlo’s debut. This time, it wasn’t as a player, but as a manager. In fact, he’s only been in charge of Juventus for a couple of games. The biggest challenge in his managerial career is coming up on Wednesday in the Juventus vs Barcelona game.

Over in the other camp, Barcelona’s reunited with Ronald Koeman. This time, not as a player, but as a manager. The 57-year-old is a true legend of the sport, with his managerial skills being applauded around the continent – in every country he’s had a job.

Before signing with Barcelona, Koeman was in charge of the Dutch National Soccer Team, which he led to finish the runners-up of the inaugural UEFA Nations League. With Barcelona, Koeman has managed to weather the storm caused by the transfer controversies surrounding Lionel Messi.

There have been some disappointing results since he’s been the boss of Barca, but Koeman seems to be on the right track. We saw his team destroying the admittedly much weaker opponent, Ferencvaros in the Champions League last week. The final score was 5:1 in that game, which saw six different players scoring a goal. For Barca, the goal-scorers were Messi, Fati, Coutinho, Pedri, and Dembele.

The reason why this is important is that the score shows that Barcelona is no longer a one-man army. Other players than Messi can score as well. The same game, however, also saw Pique getting a red card, which will keep him out of the Juventus vs Barcelona game. This could mean trouble for Barcelona’s defense. However, if they let Juve slip some goals past Ter Stegen, Barca seems capable of striking back.

Juventus vs Barcelona Prediction

Barcelona needs to be thought of as the favorite in this game. Juventus simply does not have a leader to lead them against such a strong opponent, neither on the pitch nor on the bench. Alvaro Morata seems like their most dangerous player at the moment, but he’s not going to be able to do much if the ball is in Barcelona’s possession most of the time.

That’s exactly what I expect from this game. We’re going to see Barcelona dominating it from the very start. But, can they score, or we’re going to see another goalless draw in the Juventus vs Barcelona clash?

I think both teams can score. Juventus can score because Barcelona is without Pique, plus, this team has been conceding a lot of goals lately. Barcelona can score because they’re fantastic in the offense. The man who’s most likely to score is, of course, Lionel Messi.

Lionel Messi To Score Anytime?

There are several reasons why a good soccer prop bet would be to back Lionel Messi to score anytime in the Juventus vs Barcelona game. First of all, he’s one of the best players to have ever walked the soccer pitch. Secondly, his goal-scoring is what he does best. This guy has scored 20+ goals per season each time since 2008.

Another reason why it’s very likely we will see Messi scoring is that Juventus have a tough defense that makes a lot of fouls. If they make a foul inside the box, Lionel Messi is going to be the one to shoot from the penalty spot. If Juventus concedes a foul near the penalty box, Lionel Messi is going to be the one to take the free-kick. Keep in mind that he’s Barcelona’s all-time scorer from set-pieces. Want to guess who’s second on that list? Barca’s manager Ronald Koeman!