Every eye in the football world will be on Cardiff on Saturday evening when Juventus and Real Madrid go head to head in the Champions League final.
Both sides won their 33rd domestic league titles in Serie A and La Liga this season and are aiming to end their respective campaigns with the crowning jewel.
Real, of course, have pedigree at this level – the current holders and all-time record winners, aiming to claim their 12th European gong. Juve, on the other hand, have not won the Champions League since 1996 and have been runners-up four times in the last two decades.
But there’s something ever so special about this Juventus team that makes you think this might just be their year. Since arriving in Turin in 2014 Massimiliano Allegri has pretty much picked up where Antonio Conte left off, sticking with a formation and brand of football that has brought the Old Lady unbridled success.
Integral to their dominance is an experienced backline, which has conceded just three European goals and kept a total of 28 clean sheets in all competitions this season. Gianluigi Buffon, 39, Andrea Barzagli, 36, Leonardo Bonucci, 30 and Giorgio Chiellini, 32, have established themselves as the most formidable defensive quartet in recent footballing history – at home and abroad.
Add to that the consistency of Mehdi Benatia, 30, who arrived from Bayern Munich on loan at the start of the campaign. So impressive were the performances of the Tunisian that Juventus exercised the option to sign him permanently.
The development of Daniele Rugani, 22, has been a major positive for Allegri, who clearly sees the former Empoli man as a star of the present as well as the future. Rugani was named in the 2014/15 Serie A Team of the Season whilst with the Azzurri and has appeared for Italy on three occasions, having represented his country at every youth level.
Going forward, Juve are pulsating and flamboyant. Their central midfield trio of Sami Khedira, Claudio Marchisio and Miralem Pjanic offer a magnificent balance of creativity and stability that is rarely found in a team.
Bosnian Pjanic, brought in from Serie A rivals Roma for €32m at the start of the campaign, has shone in the engine room with 12 assists and six goals to his name in all competitions. The main beneficiaries of his creative presence are Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain, and Mario Mandzukic, who have plundered 61 goals between them this season.
Dubbed as the ‘next Sergio Aguero’, Dybala is one of the hottest properties in Europe at the moment and has seen his game flourish alongside fellow Argentinean Higuain, who arrived from Napoli for €90m in the summer. The former Real Madrid forward has taken Serie A by storm since arriving in Italy four years ago and will be looking to add to his 32-goal haul against his old club at the weekend.
Aiming to marshal Higuain will be Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane – a defence that has kept just 12 clean sheets all season. Real have conceded 18 times in the Champions League this campaign and their solitary European shutout came in the semi-final first leg against city rivals Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu.
No doubt this is a weakness that Allegri will be looking to exploit, but what Zinedine Zidane’s side lack defensively they more than make up for in attack.
Aided by the free-scoring Cristiano Ronaldo, Real are the most potent side in the Champions League this season with 32 goals to their name. The four-time Ballon d’Or winner will be aiming to take his astronomical European tally past 103 and add to his ten strikes in this year’s tournament.
With 106 goals, Zidane’s side were the third top scorers in Europe’s top leagues, behind Barcelona (116) and Monaco (107). Pulling the strings in midfield is the mercurial Toni Kroos, who has 13 assists to his name in all competitions, while the marauding runs of left-back Marcelo has seen the Brazilian lay on 11 goals for his teammates.
Striker Alvaro Morata, bought back from Juventus at the start of the season, is developing into the type of clinical finisher that Real fans dreamt of when he came through the ranks at the Bernabeu. His two years in Italy, under the tutelage of Allegri, have helped transform him into a deadly forward and the Spaniard has flourished under Zidane – netting 20 goals for the first time in his career.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
Juventus and Real Madrid set to go head to head for the most coveted prize in club football
Article posted: 2 June 2017
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Gonzalo Higuain, 29
€90m from Napoli
Miralem Pjanic, 27
€32m from Roma
Paulo Dybala, 23
€32m from Palermo
Dani Alves vs. Marcelo
Alves and Marcelo spent the best part of a decade contesting El Clasico against one another, and have accumulated ten La Liga titles between them. Expect tough tackling, theatrics and some samba magic from the Brazilian duo who have never been on the losing side in a Champions League final. Something has got to give on Saturday.
Giorgio Chiellini vs. Cristiano Ronaldo
With Chiellini likely to be deployed on the left of a back three, it will be his duty to shepherd the irrepressible Ronaldo. The experienced Italian will have to be at his best to ensure Real’s talisman doesn’t escape his clutches and fire Los Blancos to successive Champions League titles. This will be an interesting duel both on the ground and aerially, but one Juve must win if they are to claim European glory.
Sami Khedira vs. Toni Kroos
Two of the finest midfielders of a generation, Khedira and Kroos spent just one season together at the Bernabeu. However, with nearly 150 caps between them since bursting onto the scene for Germany at the 2010 World Cup, it’s safe to say that the pair are familiar with one another’s games. Excellent in possession and blessed with an incredible work ethic, Khedira and Kroos’ ability to control the tempo of a game could prove to be the deciding factor on Saturday.
Raphael Varane, 24
€10m from Lens
Alvaro Morata, 24
€30m from Juventus
Karim Benzema, 29
€35m from Lyon
At just 24-years-old, Morata has his best days ahead of him. Fellow striker Karim Benzema, despite an array of domestic honours, has never quite reached the potential that was expected of him in his early years at Lyon – the same potential that prompted Real to stump up €35m for his services in 2009.
It’s perhaps harsh criticism of the Frenchman, who will always draw comparisons to Los Blancos icon Raul. But in a league not best renowned for defensive quality, to have only hit more than 20 goals on two occasions is hardly the stuff of legend. However, in a team where the main focal point is Ronaldo, any player – regardless of natural, predatory instincts – will always play second fiddle.
Experience at this level is always key – Real have been there, done it and bought the t-shirt time and time again. The core of this squad were crowned European champions in Milan last season, while only three Juventus players have previously won the Champions League – Dani Alves (Barcelona), Khedira (Real Madrid) and Mandzukic (Bayern Munich).
Even Buffon, arguably the greatest ever goalkeeper, a man who has won it all domestically, internationally and individually, has failed to get his hands on Europe’s most coveted prize. The veteran goalkeeper admits this may be his last chance to finally claim the one trophy that has, seemingly forever, eluded him.
And what of the managers? Zidane is aiming to win this competition for the third time overall, having won it as a player and manager at Real. The former Juventus midfielder, one of the most gifted and marvellous ever, was lured to the Galacticos in a €77.5m deal in 2001 to team up with Luis Figo, Claude Makelele, Raul et al.
In the other dugout is master tactician Allegri, who never won a trophy as a player in a career that spanned nearly two decades. The Italian is certainly making up for lost time having claimed his fourth Serie A title (one with AC Milan, three with Juventus), and is looking to recreate Marcello Lippi’s 1996 heroics by leading the Old Lady to European glory.
KEY BATTLES