{"id":1270232,"date":"2022-07-27T04:19:13","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T03:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1270232"},"modified":"2022-07-27T04:21:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T03:21:26","slug":"barcelona-2-2-juventus-dembele-kean-bremer-di-maria-dest-lewandowski","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/barcelona-2-2-juventus-dembele-kean-bremer-di-maria-dest-lewandowski\/","title":{"rendered":"Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 dazzles but defences don’t – Five things you might have missed from Barcelona 2-2 Juventus"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the blistering Texas heat, Barcelona and Juventus played out a dramatic 2-2 draw in pre-season.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some things you may have missed.<\/p>\n\n

1. Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 the best of the BVB Boys<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Barcelona started the game against Juventus with a front three of former Borussia Dortmund players and team-mates. Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang played one season together under Jurgen Klopp back in 2013\/14 then later Aubameyang played one season with Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 under Thomas Tuchel in 2016\/17.<\/p>\n

Tonight they all started together and, as a trio… it didn’t really work. Lewandowski is the kind of striker who needs movement off the ball around him to thrive and Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 prefers to move on the ball, while Aubameyang is no longer the young man he was when he proved to be Lewy’s foil back in 2013\/14.<\/p>\n

However while Auba looked out of place and Lewandowski needed more service (his movement was excellent as he continues to adapt to his new side but he was only given the service to have one shot at goal), Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 decided to take the game over. After Raphinha’s heroics thus far on tour in the USA, Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 must have been feeling a bit put out, and he took that frustration out on Juve.<\/p>\n

The funny thing is, for the most part he didn’t really play well. His movement was poor, his touch was inconsistent and his delivery aimless. But on the two occasions when he started running at Juve, he scored both of Barcelona’s goals with unreal solo efforts.<\/p>\n

Twice he took the ball and then just slalomed in and out of Juve defenders, making a mockery of Juan Cuadrado and Alex Sandro before thundering low shots beyond the despairing dive of Wojciech Szczesny.<\/p>\n

Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 is a player capable of this kind of magic and having him as an alternative to the more consistent Raphinha makes the Blaugrana so much more frightening than they were last season, though next time maybe don’t start all the BVB boys together!<\/p>\n

2. Di(bala) Maria?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When Juventus signed Angel Di Maria everyone assumed he’d play wide and hoik in crosses for Dusan Vlahovic, and he may still do that, but against Barcelona we saw a different kind of Di Maria, someone who took up the role of his compatriot and former Juve star, Paulo Dybala.<\/p>\n

That is to say, Di Maria played as a no. 10 behind Moise Kean. The Argentine was constantly floating between the lines, picking off the spaces Sergio Busquets wasn’t marking, and causing Barcelona all sorts of problems with his passing and probing.<\/p>\n

In fact when Di Maria did shift into a wide position, his influence (beyond the defensive) vanished from the game until he was subbed off. But when he was in that central role he looked absolutely deadly, and that should be something Juve explore.<\/p>\n

\n