Barcelona ‘still the best club around’ according to Juventus boss

Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri believes that Barcelona are the team to beat in this season’s Champions League despite rivals Real Madrid winning the trophy for three of the past four seasons.

The Italian champions meet the Spanish giants in their opening game of this season’s Champions League group stage.

It was Juventus who lost to Barcelona the last time the Catalan club lifted the trophy; back in the 2015 final.

However, the Turin-based club eliminated Barcelona in last season’s quarter-finals en route to the final in which they were comfortably beaten 4-1 by Real Madrid.

Despite the departure of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain over the summer, Juventus boss Max Allegri believes Barcelona are still the best team around.

He said:

“For me, Barcelona are still the best club around today.

“[Andres] Iniesta represents the essence of football, while [Ousmane] Dembele is an interesting youngster, and when you have players like [Lionel] Messi, [Luis] Suarez and Dembele, it’s hard for your opponents to mark you.

“Barcelona have also started the season well and they, together with Real Madrid, are favourites to win the Champions League.”

Juventus have started the season with three wins from three in Serie and striker Paulo Dybala already has five goals to his name.

This week’s match at Camp Nou is the biggest on paper given the history and talent of both clubs.