Juventus trio Carlos Tevez, Giorgio Chiellini and Gianluigi Buffon on Champions League chances
Tuesday 2 June 2015 15:30, UK
Juventus’ players are fully aware of their underdog status ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona, but confidence is still high ahead of Saturday's clash.
The Italians saw off Real Madrid in the semi-final last month to reach their first final since 2003, and are looking for their first success in the competition in 19 seasons.
They meet four-time winners Barcelona, who overcame Bayern Munich 5-3 on aggregate in the last four and have already won the Copa del Rey and La Liga in blistering fashion since an up-turn in form at the turn of the year.
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Juventus are also on the hunt for an historic treble, but Gianluigi Buffon says the chances of repeating their Bernabeu heroics are even slimmer in Berlin.
Buffon told UEFA: “In terms of the tie against Real we might have had a 35 per cent chance to make it past them. And I guess that the chances of now winning the trophy against this Barcelona side are even slimmer.
“We are aware of this and we cannot deny it - because it’s just obvious. So we certainly have an abundance of respect for the Barcelona squad, what they have achieved and for the players in the squad.
“But as I said before about Real, we have a few weapons to compete and ways to try to make things difficult for them. So we will play based on that.”
Juventus’ defensive focus in the final will be reducing the impact of Barcelona’s front three – Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez – who have scored 120 goals between them this term.
Carlos Tevez, who won the Champions League with Manchester United in 2008, says Juventus need to play the perfect game to beat Luis Enrique’s side.
“First of all I think they’re the best team in the world today, and we’ll face the best three strikers," Tevez said.
“So what you need to do, is work very hard, to play a game that needs to be more than perfect.”
Defender Giorgio Chiellini added that the front trio Real Madrid - Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema - is similar in quality to the Barca’s ‘Tridente’, and that stopping the whole side is the best form of defence.
“In the second half of the season Barcelona have managed to achieve the turnaround in the domestic league and seem to be unstoppable,” Chiellini said.
“But, ultimately, after analysing their matches, [the trio] are not the only ones in the team. There is a great squad around them and players who create passages of play for the forwards to cause harm, a lot of harm.
“But I think that with the qualities we have at our disposal we can certainly limit them.
“There will be no man-marking for Messi, Neymar or Suarez. The only way to stop them is with the whole team.”
