Barcelona 3-0 Juventus: Depay, Braithwaite and Puig get post-Messi era off to winning start

Messi
gave
a
tearful
farewell
to
Barca
at
a
news
conference
on
Sunday
after
it
was
confirmed
this
week
the
forward’s
21-year
association
with
the
club
has
come
to
an
end.

The
six-time
Ballon
d’Or
winner’s
name
was
chanted
by
home
supporters
throughout
the
prestige
pre-season
match
with
Juve,
who
included
Cristiano
Ronaldo
in
their
starting
line-up.

Messi
leaves
Barcelona:
PSG
a
possibility,
Argentine
star
confirms

Memphis
Depay
gave
Barca
the
lead
after
three
minutes
and
Martin
Braithwaite
added
a
second
before
the
hour
mark
as
Ronald
Koeman’s
men
rounded
off
pre-season
with
a
win,
with
Riqui
Puig
scoring
a
fine
third
with
the
last
kick
of
the
contest.

New
signings
Yusuf
Demir
and
Depay
linked
up
for
Barca’s
early
opener,
with
the
latter
taking
a
throughball
in
his
stride
and
picking
his
spot
past
Wojciech
Szczesny.

That
was
Depay’s
third
goal
in
four
games
since
arriving
from
Lyon
on
a
free
transfer
and
he
nearly
had
a
second
soon
after
when
bending
a
free-kick
narrowly
over
the
crossbar.

Ronaldo
was
kept
largely
quiet
during
his
45
minutes
on
the
pitch
but
did
test
Neto
with
a
vicious
shot
in
the
first
half,
while
Alvaro
Morata
was
twice
denied
by
the
Barca
keeper.

The
hosts
had
some
breathing
space
12
minutes
into
the
second
period
as
Braithwaite’s
header
from
a
Depay
corner
squirmed
through
the
grasp
of
substitute
keeper
Mattia
Perin.

Barca
added
a
third
goal
to
their
tally
in
the
final
seconds
through
young
midfielder
Puig’s
curled
effort
from
20
yards
to
give
Koeman
hope
of
a
bright
future
without
club
legend
Messi.