Barcelona 2-2 Juventus: Highlights goals, Lewandowski, Raphinha and Dembele shines as Barca remain unbeaten in preseason with fun draw.
Barcelona is still unblemished in the 2022 preseason, but they were halted to a 2-2 tie by Juventus on Tuesday night in Dallas, Texas, preventing them from winning their fourth straight match.
The two sides struggled to play at a high level for the majority of the game because of the tremendous heat, but we still had some enjoyable moments and four goals in what turned out to be a wonderful night in the Lone Star State.
FIRST HALF
Due to the absurdly high temperatures, the opening 30 minutes were played at a very slow tempo, and neither team was able to get into a solid rhythm, with the exception of a few instances when Juve was on the counter.
As expected, Barça possessed the most of the ball, but lacked the dynamic passing and movement from the previous games, and resorted to a few efforts from outside the box by Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emrick Aubameyang to create their best attacking moments.
The final 15 minutes of the game, following a brief water break, saw the game come to life as Barça looked more focused and speedy in possession and Ousmane Dembélé began to work his magic.
After Moise Kean tied the game for Juventus with a tap-in goal, the Frenchman produced a spectacular goal to give his team the lead. Dembélé then required less than a minute to make it 2-1 with another incredible dribbling play and a flawless finish.
Franck Kessie then wasted a fantastic opportunity to make it 3-1 for the Catalans, and before halftime, an otherwise dull game suddenly turned into a lot of joy. The second half might be more enjoyable.
SECOND HALF
Frenkie De Jong, who was once again playing center-back, dropped the ball at the edge of the box early in the second half, giving Moise Kean another excellent opportunity in front of goal, which he took advantage of. This gave Juventus a goal early in the second half.
Despite numerous substitutions, Barca managed to play some good attacking play and come close on numerous occasions, including a double chance when Raphinha hit the crossbar from a free-kick and Ansu Fati hit the same spot with an incredible curling effort just seconds later. The score was 2-2 when Barca finally woke up in the 60th minute.
Barça’s unbeaten preseason streak came to an end when the game ended without any further goals. But at this point, the outcomes are largely irrelevant, and it is extremely difficult to evaluate the squad at all given the occasionally absurd circumstances.
This really was simply about increasing fitness levels and nothing else because there were so many players who had to come in just to prevent injury from the heat.
The team is continuing to come together ahead of what might be a very remarkable season as they prepare for their final encounter of the US trip on Saturday night against the New York Red Bulls.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (Peña 46’); Roberto (Dest 32’ (Casadó 77’)), Christensen (Piqué 62’), Eric (De Jong 46’), Alba (Balde 62’); Nico (Gavi 46’), Busquets (Pjanic 46’), Kessie (Torre 62’); Dembélé (Raphinha 46’ (Ez Abde 77’)), Lewandowski (Memphis 62’), Aubameyang (Ansu Fati 46’ (Collado 77’))
Goals: Dembélé (34’, 40’)
Juventus: Szczesny (Perin 46’); Danilo (Compagnon 61’), Bonucci (Gatti 46’), Bremer (Rugani 59’), Sandro (Pellegrini 61’); Zakaria, Locatelli (Fagiolo 61’); Di María (Soulé 77’), Rovella, Cuadrado (Barbieri 77’); Kean (Cudrig 77’)
Goals: Kean (39’, 52’)
Match Highlights
HIGHLIGHTS: Two stunners from Ousmane Dembélé! #BarçaJuve 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/g17RfpWtxm
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 27, 2022
