Bab 612: The Victors and the Defeated

The pressure on Juventus' defense immediately skyrocketed as the ball they had just cleared came back flying towards the box within seconds. Chaos descended, and a few players, like the already-exhausted Stephan Lichtsteiner and Roberto Pereyra, lost the players they were marking.

The lurking and never-tiring Javier Mascherano took advantage of the situation after escaping the harassment of Pereyra. The Argentine timed his run well and met the incoming cross with a thunderous header.

Buffon read the Argentine like an open book and dived the right way. He got his fingertips on the ball, sending it slightly off its trajectory. It pounded off the goalpost and headed towards the left side of the box.

Jordi Alba picked up the pieces and resumed Barcelona's wave of attack. He collected the ball at the edge of the box and squared it back into the area. He sent it on a grounded trajectory across the mouth of the goal, where many Barcelona players were still lurking.