The Perfect Final

Champions League Final 6/6/2015 : Juventus vs Barcelona at Olympiastadion, Berlin

Rewind back the clock approximately 9 years, players like Claudio Marchisio, Georgio Cheillini and even a world cup winner Gianglugi Buffon himself were playing their trade in the Serie B. As world class as they may be, they showed amazing amount of loyalty to their beloved club and stood together at tough times. Juventus Football Club was charged for apparent match fixing scandal and was deducted by huge amount of points succumbing them to relegation and ending up to the second division in Italy. Since then, these players have brought back this legendary club to where it belongs and now have the chance to claim one final glory at the champions league final in Berlin against the mighty Barcelona Football Club. Since moving to Juventus from rivals AC Milan, Andrea Pirlo has lead them to 5 successive Serie A titles. What was AC Milan thinking? The last time Pirlo, Buffon and Barzagli visited Olympiastadion, they won the world cup with Italy back in 2006. Will this be another fairytale story for them? Can the Old Lady of Turin conquer Europe once again?

One last hurrah for Buffon?

The overwhelming favorites Barcelona on the other hand, undergone their own rough patch but believed in their principles of playing football the right way. The clockwork 4-3-3 formation used by them game in, game out has rewarded them in the most fashionable way possible as the whole team are in the same wavelength in terms of balance and chemistry. There are simply no other team in the world of football that is perfect with and without the ball. In recent years, teams have found a way to stop them by playing fast counterattacking football but with the addition of Neymar and Luis Suarez has made Barcelona back to unplayable again. However, the real reason of their decline was the form of Xavi because he was unable to dictate games like how he used to. His replacement, Ivan Rakitic has filled his void to aplomb. Man of the match in last season’s Europa League in which his former employees Sevilla FC triumphed, Rakitic has the chance to prove himself at the biggest stage of them all.

Rakitic: A vital component for Barcelona's success

Luis Enrique really stamped his authority by pushing back the majestic Lionel Messi back on the right to comply Suarez through the middle. This is an option the Barcelona team never had over the years which is a simple long ball to the main forward to create a fast transition from defence to attack. The positioning and triangles the Barcelona players form are simply breath-taking to watch in which at times they are a team from a different planet. The legendary Theirry Henry himself said “learning to play the Barcelona way is like learning a new sport, but once you master it, you will enjoy seeing it all flow to perfection”. This explains why Henry needed some time to get himself going during his time at Barcelona.

Magical Messi

Seen by many as the underdogs for this final, Juventus overcame all the odds in the semi-finals. The celebrity style line-up Real Madrid Football Club had, could not match the hard work, organisation and effort the Italians champions offered. They defended as a unit and never exposing themselves in a vulnerable one on one situation against the Madrid stars. Patrice Evra looked so comfortable against the speedy Gareth Bale over two legs. The same can never said during his last few seasons at Manchester United. This is due to their focus and priority on tactical defending as many other teams would only concentrate on tactical attacking.

Patrice Evra: A player reborn

They are a team that know their limits and play to their strengths. This is something that Italian teams usually do as well as the national team itself. You can never see them bashing any team 4-0, 5-0 every week. They would only win by the odd goal but when the time comes to play against tougher opponents, they would just raise their game to the sufficient amount.

So can Juventus actually stop the free scoring Barcelona?

With a bit of luck, they definitely can. Here are 5 ways on how they can beat Barcelona:

1)      Aerial Strength

Heading abilities is the Achilles heel of Barcelona. Juventus must make use of the corners or free kicks they get. Whenever, Stephan Leichsteiner or Patrice Evra overlaps to put in a cross, it is best for Morata who has been in terrific form to lure at the back post against the much shorter Jordi Alba and Daniel Alves.

2)      Play 4 man midfield

If Allergi goes for the cautious approach and play 3-5-2, it is a recipe for disaster. Bayern Munich paid the price for leaving 3 at the back against Barcelona’s front 3. This formation will also leave only 3 in the midfield and they will surely be outplayed by Barcelona’s far superior midfield 3. Hence the key is to play 4-4-2 in a diamond shape midfield. This will give Juventus an extra option in midfield and avoid being overrun.

3)      Man Mark Messi

Can Vidal to the 'Italian Job' on Messi to keep him quiet?

Arturo Vidal is the best candidate to this as he has the perfect physique to keep up with the little magician. He might need to sacrifice the attacking side of his game but it will come in a good cost. His teammates has to be close to him though as it is almost impossible to stop Messi all on your own.

4)      Don’t play a high line

Simply put that Juventus has to sit deep and do not force the issue too much. Their first goal against Madrid in the first leg came from a 20 plus passing move in which almost every team member was involved in. This shows that they are pretty capable of starting a move from deep.

5)      Exploit the vacant spaces

Fullback Alves and Alba will vacate spaces whenever they overlap. During this time, Juventus has to be quick to prompt an attack when they win back the ball or else the ever reliable Busquets will be there to do his screening job.

I would not have to elaborate on how Barcelona needs to do to win as they just have to play their normal game. Probably the only thing they have to worry about is not letting the evergreen maestro Andrea Pirlo to have too much time on the ball.

Maestro Pirlo

Here are few points that may alter the result of this final.

Key Battles:

1)      Javier Mascherano vs Carlos Tevez

Started at the bottom, finishing as legends

Helped West Ham United survive relegation back in 2007, rivals at Liverpool and Man United, these compatriots now face each other with both having perfect soldier attributes, it’s difficult to see who is going to give in here.

2)      Lionel Messi vs Patrice Evra

This is why Vidal’s job on the night is ever so important. He needs to watch out for Evra’s back the whole intriguing night.

3)      Sergio Busquets vs Paul Pogba

Discipline vs skill

The unsung hero of Barcelona, it will be interesting to see how Busquets will stop this promising French youngster.

It is all set up to be an amazing final with either team guaranteed of a clean sweep of the treble if successful on the night. These 2 teams portray different traditions in their style of play. Will another Messi’s brilliance decide it? Will a Pirlo’s free kick do the damage? Or will the lottery of a penalty shootout determine the outcome of this result? Let’s just hope that the referee spoils the game by a ridiculous decision throughout the night. That being said, every football fan around the world are in for a memorable night of football. May the best team wins.

Who will get their hands on this trophy?

Personal Prediction: Buffon to be the hero as Juventus claim glory by the penalty shootout with the match ending 1-1 after extra time.

by Ivan Vincent