Juventus respond to Barcelona's Messi 'GOAT' claim in classic style

Juventus recently took to Twitter to respond to an earlier tweet by Barcelona proclaiming Lionel Messi as the 'GOAT' of football.

The Blaugrana had humorously tweeted at their Italian counterparts, with a picture of Messi captioned:

''We are glad that you were able to see the {Goat emoji} on your pitch, Juventus {wink-kiss emoji}."

We are glad you were able to see the 🐐 on your pitch, @juventusfcen! 😘 pic.twitter.com/yh74wh0lNJ

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 28, 2020

Juventus and Barcelona clashed in one of the most anticipated fixtures of the Champions League group stage on Wednesday, with many seeing it as an opportunity for the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry to be rekindled.

However, the Portugal icon tested positive for COVID-19 while on international duty with his national team and did not recover in time for the fixture, thereby ruling him out of the clash.

In his absence, Juventus have stuttered, with just one win from the last four games in all competitions as Andrea Pirlo's methods are taking time to reap dividends.

It has also not been smooth sailing for Barcelona as they have been rocked by several off-field issues, the biggest of which was the resignation of former president Josep Bartomeu along with the entire board.

The Messi and Ronaldo debate rages on with new tweets

Ronaldo missed the fixture due to a positive coronavirus test

For almost 15 years, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have rewritten football history, and their iconic sporting rivalry has been the biggest talking point of the last decade.

The two players are widely regarded among the best in history, and many fans go further by proclaiming one of the two as the greatest player of all time.

This is a debate that has raged on continuously, and the advent of social media has only served to propagate it to new heights, with almost all football fans on one side or the other when it comes to the GOAT debate.

Fans, pundits, journalists, football executives and even footballers themselves have given their opinion on the matter. Club and national team loyalties often play a key role in deciding allegiances.

Juventus, of course, believe that they are in possession of the real GOAT, and they wasted no time in responding to Barcelona's tongue-in-cheek tweet.

You probably looked it up in the wrong dictionary. We'll bring you the right one at Camp Nou 🔍📖

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 28, 2020

Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Juventus brought an end to a nine-year spell that had seen him clash with Messi on a regular basis in Spain. This Champions League fixture offered fans a rare opportunity to see two of the all-time greats face each other once more.

Having missed the first leg, Ronaldo would be raring to go when both sides meet again at Camp Nou in December.