Juventus’ Argentine sensation Paulo Dybala sizzled with a brace as the Italian side trumped Barcelona 3-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie at the Juventus stadium on Tuesday night.

While the other tie (Borussia Dortmund vs Monaco) on the night was cancelled after an explosion rocked the Dortmund bus as the team was en route to the stadium, Juventus made amends for the lack of footballing action with a stunning all-round display against the Catalans.

Juventus, seeking revenge for their 3-1 humbling at the hands of Barcelona in the 2015 UEFA Champions League final, made a blistering start to the game, aided by some poor defending from the visitors.

Dybala received Juan Cuadrardo’s pass from the right wing with this back to the ball and before anyone knew it, swivelled on a dime and curled a shot past Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Gerard Pique, considered one of the finest defenders in the world, had inexplicably backed off Dybala and the forward made Barcelona pay by giving Juve the lead as early as the 7th minute.

Barca were stunned and looked listless in attack and with Juve harrying them in their own half, never looked threatening despite dominating possession. Lionel Messi, however, produced a moment of brilliance in the 22nd minute to split Juve’s defence to find Andres Iniesta with a through ball, but the Spaniard was unable to beat Gianluigi Buffon.

And the hosts doubled their lead via a rapid counter-attack, the fit-again Mario Mandzukic sending in a perfectly weighted cross from the left for Dybala to stroke home first-time from the edge of the box in the 22nd minute.

Iniesta, starting in place of the suspended Sergio Busquets, was not the surprise inclusion of the night, with Luis Enrique picking Jeremy Mathieu at left back despite having Jordi Alba available.

And Enrique’s substitution at half-time to replace the Frenchman with Andre Gomes suggested he had accepted his mistake and was trying to make amends.

Whether it was the Portuguese midfielder’s inclusion or something else, but Barca looked to be in the ascendancy as the second period began, striving to find an away goal which would change the complexion of the tie.

A goal came, but it was Juve who scored, again, with Giorgio Chiellini proving his worth on the other end of the pitch with a powering header from Mirajlem Pjanic's corner. The Italian outmuscled his marker, Javier Mascherano, to give Juve a healthy lead in the 55th minute.

While Barcelona had a couple of chances to reduce the deficit and in the process, notch an important away goal, they seemed to be stuck in second gear and Buffon, for the most part, was not really troubled. While Neymar managed to keep his cool despite being on the receiving end of a few robust challenges, his three-match domestic suspension announced just before the game seemed to be playing on his mind as he put in a rather sub-par performance. 

In fact, the visitors were lucky they didn't go back to the Nou Camp with a bigger deficit, as match referee Szymon Marciniak denied Juventus a legitimate goal on grounds of offside and even waved away a strong penalty shout in the second half.

Enrique’s men have proved that they can turn things around with their dramatic victory over PSG in the round of 16, but Masssimiliano Allegri’s side are way too disciplined to concede four goals in a 90-minute game.

The second leg at the Nou Camp is scheduled for the 20th of April and another miracle from La Blaugrana will be required if they are to progress to the last-four of Europe’s premier club competition.