Barcelona take on Juventus on Wednesday evening in one of the most eagerly-anticipated fixtures of this season’s Champions League group stages.Every football fan was salivating at the prospect of seeing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo going head-to-head for the first time since the latter left Real Madrid for Italy in 2018.It remains unclear at the time of writing whether Ronaldo, who tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, will be available for selection."We must wait for the outcome [of Ronaldo's test], I think the result will come tonight," Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo told reporters at his pre-match press conference. “[Tuesday] evening we will have the definitive result."But Messi will certainly be there. The Argentine forward has struggled to produce his best form during the early weeks of the current campaign but will be determined to get his side back to winning ways following Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to fierce rivals Real Madrid.
Ahead of Wednesday’s match, Barcelona’s official Twitter account sparked a Twitter war with Juventus after sending the Italian giants a video of Messi scoring against the Serie A outfit alongside the message: “Hey, @juventusfcen, we’re looking forward to seeing the [Goat emoji] on your pitch tomorrow night!”
Cheeky.
Rather than responding with something related to Ronaldo, who some fans regard as the greatest of all time [GOAT], Juve posted a video of Paulo Dybala scoring against the Catalan club alongside the caption: “We prefer seeing this wonderful, left-footed Argentine.”
They followed up that tweet with a video of Dybala celebrating, which led Barcelona to tweet a GIF of Neymar’s goal against Juve in the 2015 Champions League final.
“That’s good, a mask is important in these times,” the La Liga side tweeted, but does it get better than this? [shushing face emoji]”
This awkward exchange continued for a little while longer. Both clubs boasted about their respective stadiums before Juventus posted a video of Giorgio Chiellini scoring in a Champions League clash between the two teams in 2017.
But which club will be bragging on social media after Wednesday night’s match?
Barcelona, despite their recent form and the fact they’re away from home, head into the fixture as the marginal favourites in the eyes of the bookmakers.
But that could all change if Ronaldo if declared fit to play.