Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Lionel Messi led Barcelona to a shutout victory over Italian squad Juventus in the group stage of the 2020-2021 Champions League. Juventus was forced to play without star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who has COVID-19.
Messi scored with a penalty kick in stoppage time of the 2-0 victory on Wednesday in Turin, Italy. Ousmane Dembele scored Barcelona's first goal in the 14th minute of the Group G match.
Barcelona now leads Group G with a 2-0 record at the prestigious European tournament. Juventus (1-1) is in second place in the group. Ronaldo has yet to play in the tournament after Juventus announced his positive test on Oct. 13.
He hasn't shared a field with Messi since Barcelona battled his former squad -- Real Madrid -- on May 6, 2018, in Spain's La Liga.
"We played against a great team, but we made too many mistakes on a technical level and Barcelona are unforgiving," Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci told reporters after Wednesday's loss.
Messi sparked the game's first goal when he smacked a cross from the left flank to the right flank and found Dembele. The Barcelona striker brought down the long feed before he dribbled to the box with the ball on his left foot. Dembele then faked a left-footed shot before he moved the ball to his right foot.
He then ripped a 19-yard shot, which deflected off Juventus' Federico Chiesa and beat goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and fell into the left side of the net.
Juventus striker Alvaro Morata had two goals disallowed in the first 45 minutes due to offside calls and the score stayed 1-0 through halftime.
Morata found the net for a third time in the 55th minute, but that score also was disallowed due to an offside call. Officials later ruled that Juventus' Federico Bernardeschi fouled Barcelona striker Ansu Fati in the box in the 90th minute.
Messi then stepped up and netted his penalty kick attempt for the game's final score.
Barcelona battles Alaves on Saturday in La Liga before they return to the Champions League with a group stage match against Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday in Barcelona. Juventus faces Spezia in Serie A before a group stage match against Ferencvaros on Wednesday in Budapest, Hungary.
