Champions League Results 2015: Scores, Top Players for Round of 16 Day 3
Barcelona and Juventus both recorded 2-1 wins over Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund, respectively, during the first legs of Tuesday's round-of-16 clashes. The Spanish and Italian giants both rode top-class performances from their star forwards to clear victories.
For the Catalans, Luis Suarez found the back of the net twice, and winning 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium means the Blaugrana are strong favourites to emerge victorious from this tie.
Things aren't as straightforward for Juventus, who allowed an away goal to Marco Reus after Giorgio Chiellini slipped in the first half. As a result, the Bianconeri will have their work cut out for them at the Signal Iduna Park.
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Here are the full results and every scorer from Tuesday's action:
| Manchester City | 1-2 | Barcelona | Luis Suarez (2), Sergio Aguero |
| Juventus | 2-1 | Borussia Dortmund | Carlos Tevez, Marco Reus, Alvaro Morata |
Top Players for Day 3
Luis Suarez, Barcelona
Bleacher Report UK put it best after Suarez's opening goal inside the first 20 minutes:
The Uruguay international was almost chased out of Britain after his incident involving Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup, and it must have been very sweet for him to open the scoring in this match with an emphatic blast from his left foot.
The former Liverpool man added a second with a perfectly timed lunge inside the box, finishing off a fantastic team move. According to ESPN Stats & Info, it was his first brace for his new club:
Suarez has quietly been in fantastic form for the past several months, but most of his contributions didn't register on the score sheet. A brace to give his team a fantastic position heading to the Camp Nou should capture everyone's attention, however. The striker is doing just fine with Barcelona.
Lionel Messi, Barcelona
Suarez's brace will take all the headlines, but Lionel Messi was the star attraction on the Etihad pitch, particularly during the first half. The four-time Ballon d'Or winner glided across the grass without any effort, and per Squawka, he was present in nearly all areas:
Sure, the Argentina international didn't score, but the way he distributed play from behind Suarez, found spaces out wide and routinely beat his marker was a sight for sore eyes.
Up 2-0, ESPN's Marc Stein couldn't help but express his admiration for the star forward:
Blaugrana fans will be expecting more of the same from the 27-year-old in the return game, and barring a sudden loss of form, that's exactly what they will get. City defenders are already quivering at the thought of defending Messi and Company in front of thousands of Catalan fans.
Alvaro Morata, Juventus
Paul Pogba was solid—if a little too nonchalant on the ball—on Tuesday while Carlos Tevez put in another hard-working shift and bagged himself a goal. But the real star for Juventus was undoubtedly 22-year-old Alvaro Morata.
The Spaniard combines Fernando Llorente's size and finishing ability with the blue-collar approach of Tevez, and watching the duo make life miserable on a back four is a thing of beauty. GianlucaDiMarzio.com's David Amoyal has no problem admitting his original opinion of the young striker was wrong:
Morata assisted Tevez for the opening goal—with a little help from a blundering Roman Weidenfeller—and scored Juventus' second goal himself—with a little help from the entire Dortmund back four—but his high work rate can't be expressed in statistics alone.
The visitors controlled possession for much of the night but failed to truly bother Gianluigi Buffon, and if it weren't for Chiellini's slip and Reus' subsequent goal, the Bianconeri would be in a fantastic position heading for Germany.
Instead, as shared by Football Italia, the Italian champions are in for a real battle at the Signal Iduna Park, according to the match hero:
Backed by a very vocal home crowd, you can be sure Die Schwarzgelben will create more chances and likely score, so Juventus will need Morata to duplicate his excellent performance in order to advance to the next round.
