Juventus knew that, from the moment they secured their place in the Champions League final, they would be seen as huge underdogs against Luis Enrique’s free-scoring Barcelona.
The Bianconeri may enjoy unrivalled dominance in Serie A but were fully aware they remained some way short of Europe’s very best side. Yet the confidence of the Turin giants was boosted by their win over Real Madrid in the semi-finals, and they headed to Berlin determined to give a good account of themselves.
“We started out with the important aim of getting into Europe’s top eight. We’ve gone beyond that and are in the final two. Now we’ll look to finish first,” coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters this week, per his club’s official website.
“We mustn’t think about how to stop Barcelona, but instead how to build the play ourselves, because it’s unlikely the game will finish goalless,” he added, which was an apt point considering Juve’s hopes of holding off Barcelona were dented severely by the loss of Giorgio Chiellini to injury just a few days earlier.
Allegri’s analysis was proved correct within four minutes, as Andres Iniesta ran unchecked into the box and linked up with Jordi Alba. The Barcelona skipper then slipped a superb pass to Ivan Rakitic, and the Croatian side-footed past a helpless Gigi Buffon to hand his side the lead.
Arturo Vidal had a chance to equalise but blazed his shot over the bar and lost his head from there. Lunging into a string of ill-advised challenges, the Chilean—the first man from his nation to play in a Champions League final—eventually received a yellow card for a foul on Neymar.
Buffon made an excellent stop from Dani Alves moments later, and the Catalan side were unfortunate not to take a greater advantage into the half-time interval.
source:bleacherreport.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 