Real must conquer ‘Mount’ Juventus to make Euro history
REAL MADRID’S irresistible attack slams into Juventus’ seemingly immovable defence tomorrow when the free-scoring Spanish aristocrats hope to become the first club to win the Champions League in successive seasons.
Cardiff ’s Millennium Stadium hosts a final full of sub-plots, one of which could see Welsh wizard Gareth Bale make a triumphant return to the valleys of his birth.
Others include Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon potentially becoming the oldest player to lift the trophy or Real coach Zinedine Zidane, twice a Champions League runner-up with Juve, contriving to break the hearts of those who once idolised him.
Centre stage will be Cristiano Ronaldo, whose lust for goals has taken Los Blancos to within touching distance of a 12th European title after they took their 11th a year ago by beating Atletico Madrid.
Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan side were the last to be crowned European champions for a second year running in 1990, but in the Champions League era that feat has proved beyond even the most expensively assembled teams.
Real, crowned La Liga champions last week, are the favourites after banging in 32 goals in 12 games in the competition.
Ronaldo has scored 10 of them, and two more in the final would see him move above Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to top this season’s Champions League scoring chart. But he still appears to wants more. “Too much humility isn’t good. We have to prove our character and who is the best,” Ronaldo said as he eyed a third Champions League triumph with Real to add to the one he secured with Manchester United in 2008. “The final is won by scoring goals. I have the feeling that we are going to play a great game and we are going to win.”
He is right about the goals: No Champions League final has ended goalless since Milan beat Juve on penalties in 2003.
However Serie A title winners Juventus are unbeaten in Europe this season and are going to their second final in three years having conceded only three goals.
Only Arsenal, in 2005-06, reached the final in more miserly fashion, conceding two goals before falling at the final hurdle against Barcelona.
No wonder Buffon, aged 39, looks like he could play forever, such is the strength of the defence Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri has erected and which Barcelona’s Gerard Pique described as a “mountain” after their quarter-final loss.
A 2006 World Cup winner with Italy, Buffon craves a Champions League medal to add to his array of silverware after twice suffering heartache in the final.
“If I’d already won the Champions League I’d be drained,” he said in a recent interview. “The fact that I’m still to win it pushes me on.”
While Buffon bleeds black and white stripes, teammates Sami Khedira and Gonzalo Higuain once played for Real.
Khedira conquered Europe with Real in 2014 but never really cut it at the Bernabeu, while Higuain, despite scoring more than 100 goals for the club, is still looking for a Champions League medal.
They will be spurred on by facing their old club while seeking to end Juve’s 21-year wait for the title.
Bale’s role is likely to be a cameo as he hasn’t fully recovered from an ankle injury. Isco is likely to play, but if the scriptwriters get their way, the local boy will come off the bench to spark a fiesta.
Tomorrow’s final against Juventus is a reminder that arguably the finest midfielder of his generation, Zidane hasn’t had it all his own way. Juve lost two finals during the Zidane era, and his solitary success would come with Real in 2002.
“Moments like that are tough and sad, but they’re part and parcel of any footballer’s career and you’ve got to accept them. I’m just happy I got to win the competition later with Real Madrid. All careers leave you with both good and bad memories,” Zidane said recently. – Reuters