A long and glorious season of football will come to a close tomorrow, but not before we are treated to one last game between Europe’s best teams. Tomorrow’s Champions League Final from Berlin promises to deliver action of the highest quality, featuring the greatest player in the game and two of the most storied clubs in the game — Juventus and Barcelona.
Soccer might not be the most popular sport in America, but it is gaining steam and the U.S.’s recent involvement in the FIFA takedown has certainly helped matters. While soccer may not be your sport, tomorrow’s game is still must-see television and you’d be doing yourself a disservice by refusing to watch because soccer. Why should you watch? Lionel Messi should be reason number one, but there are several other reasons for the casual observer to check this out.
The first reason to watch is because someone is taking home a treble tomorrow. That means you start with the fact that both of these teams were the best in their respective countries. Juventus won the Italian league, Barcelona won the Spanish league. Both of these teams also won a single-elimination tournament featuring every professional club in their country. When you’re also competing in league and other tournaments throughout the year, winning both of them is hard to do and both of these teams did just that. The team to win tomorrow’s game will win a treble, only seven European teams have ever accomplished this feat and it’s guaranteed to happen tomorrow.
The game is guaranteed to feature some of the best players in the world at their positions and several players who either were the best in the world at one time or are on their way there now. As a result of the talent on the pitch, you can be assured that you’ll see some spectacular scoring or some spectacular defensive efforts, someone may even get Boateng’ed again. There will be tons of speed, skill, and technical ability on display tomorrow, it’s not a bad way to spend your morning.
If you can spend a Wednesday in March watching Robert Morris beat North Florida, you’ll want to spend a Saturday morning watching what could happen on the field in this game. Messi might be the most unstoppable athlete sport has seen since Wilt, Kareem, or Ali. If you don’t believe me, Google “Messi goal vs. Athletic Bilbao” or “Messi goal vs Boateng” and see what I mean. But just in case you wanted to know about something more than Messi for tomorrow’s match, here is a rundown of what you can expect.
Juventus projected lineup: GK Gianluigi Buffon, LB Patrice Evra, CB Andrea Barzagli, CB Leonardo Bonnucci, RB Stephan LIchsteiner, DM Andrea Pirlo, CM Paul Pogba, CM Claudio Marchisio, CAM Arturo Vidal, ST Carlos Tevez, ST Álvaro Morata. It includes some of top goal scorers in the Champions League.
Juventus arrive as the undisputed kings of Italy. The Old Lady, as Juventus are affectionately known, won two major trophies in the same year for the first time since 1994-5. Already claiming the Scudetto (Serie A champions) and Coppa Italia, Juve will look to complete the treble by finishing off Barca in the Final.
The Italians come into this game with one of the most complete teams in the game. Boasting one of the finest defenses in Europe, Juventus will be tested early and often by Barca’s magical front three. With the recent announcement that Giorgio Chiellini will have to sit out with an injury, Juve’s defense has been dealt a significant blow. A focal point of that defense, Chiellini’s presence and warrior spirit will be missed. Fortunately for La Bianconeri, Andrea Barzagli will be more than capable of stepping onto the pitch and providing world class defense.
For Juventus to pull off the victory, they’ll need to focus on playing their game. This was a tactic that served them well against Real Madrid in another series where everyone discounted their chances from day one. Juventus will, once again, need to focus on moving as a unit and conserving energy. The strength of this Juventus teams is their ability to retain possession and work set-pieces. Juventus will need to avoid chasing the game if they’re expected to keep up with Barca.
Individual players like Vidal, Pogba, and Tevez will need to summon their finest games. If Pirlo can capture a bit of his past magic, Juventus will be all the better for it. If not, Juve will settle for Pirlo not turning the ball over like he has been lately and affording the attack of Barca an easy break. While Juventus manager Max Allegri will no doubt start Paul Pogba in a match of this magnitude, he shouldn’t be afraid to pull the trigger if it looks like Pogba is still trying to find the form he had prior to his injury. Given Allegri’s command of tactical knowledge, it’s highly unlikely that he will hesitate to yank anyone disrupting his tactics. This is the same man who started a relatively unknown Stefano Sturaro against Real Madrid and it worked like a charm, Allegri knows his stuff.
The attack of Juventus will need to be led by Carlos Tevez. Tevez tasted Champions League glory with Manchester United back in 2007-8 and has a very finicky relationship with his national time. For a man who has openly stated his desires to return to his native Argentina sooner rather than later, this could be his final shot at a European crown or any major title. His workhorse attitude throughout the competition indicates a hunger for success and he will need to set the tone for Juve’s attack. If Tevez can assert himself early, Barca will no doubt have as much trouble stopping Tevez as everyone else. Morata came up huge in the semifinals, but teams turn to their senior leaders during games like these and Tevez checks all the boxes of a man who will be expected to deliver and lead.
Juve have quietly been the best team in this competition. With all due respect to Barcelona, Juventus are the best team remaining in this competition. Juve have the tactical prowess, a more complete squad, and a world class goalkeeper. All of that said, having the best team doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Barca have proven to be the best club in this competition. Yes, there is a difference.
Barca projected lineup: GK Marc-André ter Stegen, LB Jordi Alba, CB Gerard Piqué, CB Javier Mascherano, RB Dani Alves, DM Sergio Busquets, CM Ivan Rakitic, CM Andrés Iniesta, LF Neymar, ST Luis Suárez
As mentioned above, the Spanish kings have been the best club in football since December. After starting off the campaign in a very un-Barca way, manager Luis Enrique has righted the ship and turned its weapons on the world to devastating effect. Taking the La Liga (Spanish league) and Copa del Rey (Spanish cup) crowns, Blaugrana are also looking to cap off a memorable treble run with a victory tomorrow. No matter what happens, someone is taking home a treble.
It would be too easy to fill a space on all the things Barca does right. Put plainly, this might be one of the scariest attacking teams in the history of professional sports and that’s not an understatement. Imagine a team with Jordan (Messi), Kobe (Suarez), and Steph Curry (Neymar) in their prime. Now add in someone like Magic Johnson (Iniesta) running that attack and add a bunch of All-NBA 1st teamers backing them up and that’s about the gist of what Barcelona brings to the table.
It might be more prudent to discuss Barca’s defensive problems and the fact that this is a one-off game and that has an entirely different strategic approach than a two-legged competition. If Barca can piece together a defensive performance worthy of the names they’ll put on the pitch, this game should be nothing more than a formality on the way to being discussed as the greatest team of all time. Barca defenders will need to concentrate on defensive responsibilities when they are off the ball and they’ve had issues in that arena. Juventus are a well-orchestrated team and will be all too happy to capitalize on a lapse in defensive responsibility.
Enrique will also benefit from having the best player in the world managing his squad on the field. Messi has been playing at an otherworldly level since the World Cup and Barca will be content to follow his lead. The experience of Iniesta and Messi in games of this magnitude will no doubt become an on-the-field resource for Barca’s younger and untested players. Neymar’s refusal to be drawn into an argument against Bilbao will boost confidence levels ahead of an Italian team known for playing the mindiest of mind-games.
Talent will win the day, make no mistake. This game is loaded with talent. Someone is going to make an outstanding individual play in this game and it’s likely that it could even decide the contest, but that won’t be the whole story. Even with all the talent on the field, this game is going to be decided by two key factors.
The biggest factor will be tactical management. Two-legged competitions allow for mistakes by managers over the course of two games. If you get something wrong on one leg, you can tweak and see yourself through on the second. There will be no such allowance tomorrow. Ninety minutes plus extra time will be all these managers have. A moment of tactical genius and stupidity could be all that it takes to decide a game filled with the world’s best players. Speaking of stupidity…
The second key area of this game will be player decisions. You know that moment in a big game when someone does something that makes you scream “WHY?!?” In soccer, those tend to be decisions on whether or not to make a challenge or react to a non-call. You don’t reach world class level without a bit of an ego and tomorrow’s match features plenty of world class players. Don’t be at all surprised if one of them puts himself before the team at a critical moment.
This game was written for Barca to win and this game has been forecast as a Barca victory. Juventus have been largely overlooked and written off on many different occasions. Looking past Juventus might very well be the reason Real Madrid are not playing for the chance to defend their title. Barca are not Real and will not allow themselves to make the same mistake. They will be focused, prepared, and ready to be dominant. Juventus will be ready to meet the challenge once again.