Lionel Messi’s Barcelona Suffer Blow Ahead Of Champions League Clash Against Juventus

FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique will miss his side’s next Champions League outing, which is against Juventus, after he was shown a red card during their 5-1 win over Ferencvaros on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi's Barcelona kickstarted their 2020-21 Champions League campaign with an excellent 5-1 win, but it did not go all smooth for Ronald Koeman’s side. Pique, who has been a vital cog of the Catalans squad, was sent off after 68 minutes of the Ferencvaros game at Camp Nou for a last-man foul and as a result, the 33-year-old will miss Barcelona’s next week’s trip to Turin, ESPN confirmed on Twitter.

Even Juventus started off their campaign with a 2-0 win over Dynamo Kiev and the upcoming game between the Serie A champions and Messi-led Barcelona will decide which team tops Group G. As of now, with a superior goal difference, Barcelona are at the top of the table ahead of Juventus, Dynamo Kiev and Ferencvaros.

Uruguay’s Ronald Araujo is reportedly going to replace Pique and partner Clement Lenglet in the heart of the defense against Juventus, who are set to host Barcelona on Oct. 29. The 21-year-old center-back earlier filled in for the suspended Lenglet against Sevilla in La Liga before he made his Champions League debut against Ferencvaros. Araujo came in the field at the 70th minute for Philippe Coutinho and thereby made his third competitive appearance of the season for the Catalans.

Araujo moved from his home club in Uruguay, Boston River, to Barcelona in 2018 and played for the club’s B-side before he made his first-team debut in 2019. He played six times for Messi’s Barcelona in the 2019-20 season.

The goal-scorers for Barcelona against Ferencvaros were Messi, Ansu Fati, Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Pedri.

After the 5-1 victory at home, the Camp Nou side also announced that Pique, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Frenkie de Jong and Clement Lenglet have all signed contract extensions with the club.

Barcelona’s next fixture is the much-awaited El Clasico against Real Madrid at Camp Nou on Saturday.