The Champions League final is probably the biggest club fixture in the entire footballing world and this year, things are bigger than ever before. Spain’s Barcelona face off against Italy’s Juventus for what is the biggest prize in European football. Both teams head into the game after successfully wrapping up their respective domestic leagues for themselves. Barcelona cantered to the La Liga title after racking up a whopping 94 points and Juventus did almost the very same after notching up a tally of 87 points. In fact, both teams could not have been more evenly matched.
In terms of differences though, Barcelona are of course a much better attacking side than their opponents and the 110 goals that they’ve scored in the league this season proves it. This does not mean that Juventus have a toothless attack. In fact, the 72 goals that they scored in the Serie A is a pretty respectable amount in itself, although it’s nowhere near Barca’s astronomical number.
Juventus made their way past current champions, Real Madrid to seal a spot in the Final
Another area where Barca seem to be ahead in is the quality of players. The Spanish outfit have a treasure trove of talent with some of the world’s biggest football stars among their ranks. The entire Barca team consists of national team players who could walk into any football team in the world. In terms of market value, Barcelona have the second most valuable football team in the world after their rivals, Real Madrid.
All of these points though count for nothing because football isn’t won on paper. If market value would have been such an important factor, then it should have been Real Madrid lining up against Barcelona on the 6th of June. However, that is not the case and it is Juventus who are making their first appearance in the Final of the UEFA Champions League since 2003.
Barcelona powered past Bayern Munich to book their place in the Champions League Final
On paper, the game and the trophy appears to be Barcelona’s, but football is not played on paper. Massimilliano Allegri’s boys have defied all odds to make it to this stage and there is no reason as to why they cannot go one step further. The manner in which they beat Real Madrid who were looking to make it an El Clasico final was truly awe inspiring. Barcelona would therefore do well to not underestimate their opponents.
As far as predictions are concerned, I personally will have to contradict what I just said in the paragraph above. Despite Juventus’ defensive prowess and the manner in which they made it to the Final of the Champions League as underdogs, I still feel that Barcelona, with their terrifying triumvirate up front will be too much for the Old Lady to handle.I do not see the game to be a landslide in favour of the Catalans but the ultimate result has to be in favour of Messi and his company. No matter what happens though, one thing is for sure and that is that we football fans are in line to witness a great game of football featuring some of the biggest names in the world, and that my friends is a victory for us all.
