Juventus vs Barcelona; UEFA Champions League Final
Juventus vs Barcelona. UEFA Champions League Final.
OlympiastadionAttendance70,442.
Champions League final preview: Juventus face Barcelona in Berlin showdown
Saturday 6 June 2015 19:50, UK
Juventus and Barcelona are both looking to complete a stunning treble when they meet in Saturday’s Champions League final in Berlin.
The Serie A and La Liga champions also won their domestic cups, with Juventus looking for their first-ever treble, while Barcelona are aiming to repeat their feat under Pep Guardiola in 2009.
Juventus have already seen off Spanish opposition, booking their place in the final with a 3-2 aggregate victory over Real Madrid, after Alvaro Morata’s goal gave them the draw they needed at the Bernabeu.
Juve lost two games in the group stage and ended up scraping through in second, just one point ahead of Olympiakos, but their good organisation and high work rate has seen them head all the way to Berlin.
The Spanish champions, meanwhile, won Group F as they took victory in five of their six group games – their only blip coming in the form of a 3-2 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain.
They got revenge over the Ligue 1 side in the quarter-finals having already seen off Manchester City, before taking the spoils against Bayern Munich despite a 3-2 defeat in the second leg.
Barcelona’s run to the final has seen them beat the reigning champions from three of Europe’s big leagues, with the Italian champions the only ones standing in their way of a second treble.
Team news
Allegri’s side are without defender Giorgio Chiellini, who has been ruled out with a torn calf muscle, with the Italy centre-back missing out on a first meeting with Luis Suarez since the biting incident at last summer’s World Cup in Brazil.
Andrea Barzagli could replace Chiellini in the Juventus defence as he makes the squad, but the centre-back is fighting to be fit after recovering from a thigh strain, while Martin Caceres was ruled out for the season when he fractured his ankle in March.
Barcelona, meanwhile, should have Luis Suarez available after he recovered from a hamstring injury to play in their 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in last week’s Copa del Rey final.
Luis Enrique will be sweating over the fitness of Andres Iniesta, who picked up a calf injury in Saturday’s game, but the midfielder returned to training on Thursday and looks set to start, while compatriot Xavi says farewell with his final appearance before leaving to join Qatari side Al-Sadd.
Opta facts
Juventus have lost their last three Champions League finals since winning on penalties against Ajax in 1995/96.
Barcelona, meanwhile, have won their last three finals - the last one they lost was against AC Milan in 1993/94.
This will be the 7th European Cup/Champions League final between an Italian side and a Spanish one: Italian teams have won only twice.
So far Barcelona have won only two of their eight European meetings with Juventus (D2 L4).
Three of the last four Juventus goals in the Champions League have been in the 57th minute.
Barcelona have scored eight goals in the last 15 minutes of Champions League games this season – more than any other side.
However, Juve are yet to concede a goal in that period of their games in the Champions League this season.
For the first time in the Champions League, a team has two players with at least nine goals scored in a single Champions League season (Neymar and Lionel Messi for Barcelona).
A goal for Messi would see him overtake Cristiano Ronaldo and become the competition’s all-time top scorer. They both currently stand on 77.
Patrice Evra could become the second player to take the field in Champions League final with three different teams (Monaco, Manchester United and Juventus), after Clarence Seedorf achieved the same feat. (with Milan, Ajax and Real Madrid).
Juventus are very solid, compact and can hit you on the break with Alvaro Morata, Carlos Tevez and Paul Pogba. Then Claudio Marchisio can play and we know all about what Andrea Pirlo can do.
We know about how good Juventus are at the back, but they can keep the ball too. However, in this final they won’t get much possession because if there is a team that you know is going to touch the ball a lot it’s Barcelona!
So you can never know or tell what will happen. All the signs will tell you that for Barcelona it’s their year again but also the history of the game will remind you to be careful. Surprises can happen.
Betting
Barcelona are Sky Bet's overwhelming favourites to clinch Champions League glory when they face 5/1 shots Juventus on Saturday. The Spanish giants are 8/13 to win in 90 minutes while the draw is priced 3/1. Juve have had the better of previous meetings between the sides, winning four of the eight games and drawing two, and they are 21/10 to score the first goal of the game.
Both teams have also scored in six of those meetings and Sky Bet offer 10/11 for that trend to continue at the Olympiastadion. The online bookmaker are offering a host of Price Boost specials including Lionel Messi to score and Barcelona to win 2-0 now 20/1.
Watch the UEFA Champions League final between Juventus and Barcelona live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Saturday, with coverage from Berlin underway from 6pm.