Here’s all the latest news, stats and facts ahead of the European Cup Final, taking place at the Olympiastadion in Berlin:
Barcelona
The Catalans head into their eighth European Cup Final in confident mood, with their star-studded squad showing a clean bill of health ahead of this weekend’s eagerly-anticipated match-up. Luis Enrique’s charges reached the Final following a 5-3 aggregate win over German giants Bayern Munich, and are looking for their fifth Champions League victory in their club’s history – and their fourth in just the past nine years.
The numbers
Matches played: 12
Wins: 10
Losses: 2
Draws: 0
Goals scored: 28
Goals conceded: 10
Attempts (on target): 177 (72)
Passes (completed): 7849 (90%)
Yellow cards: 19
Red cards: 1
Top-scorer: Lionel Messi (10)
Recent Champions League form
2013/14: Quarter-finals
2012/13: Semi-finals
2011/12: Semi-finals
2010/11: Winner
2009/10: Semi-finals
Player’s comments: “It's a Champions League final – we have to go through a lot to make it to the final because we know it is not easy to become champions again. Our dream is to win it all. We know that we will face a very tricky opponent – they are very strong, Juventus are a big team. It is a final and anything can happen, but we will prepare and approach it as we have approached finals before.” – Lionel Messi
Juventus
The Bianconeri will be featuring in their first Champions League Final in 12 years – during that time, Barca have lifted the trophy on three separate occasions. The Old Lady have lifted the ‘Big Ears’ just twice in their history, their last victory coming in 1996 after a 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory over Ajax Amsterdam. Massimiliano Allegri’s men beat last season’s winners Real Madrid 3-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals, yet were struck a major blow on Thursday after confirming that star defender Giorgio Chiellini will miss the Final with a calf injury. Fellow Italian defender Andrea Barzagli is set to slot in for the injured centre-back.
The numbers
Matches played: 12
Wins: 7
Losses: 2
Draws: 3
Goals scored: 16
Goals conceded: 7
Attempts (on target): 152 (61)
Passes (completed): 6082 (88%)
Yellow cards: 23
Red cards: 0
Top-scorer: Carlos Tevez (7)
Recent Champions League form
2013/14: Group stage
2012/13: Quarter-final
2011/12: Did not participate
2010/11: Did not participate
2009/10: Group stage
Player’s comments: “They're the best team in the world and we'll face the best three strikers, so we will have to work extremely hard and our performance will need to be better than perfect.” – Carlos Tevez
Head-to-head
Juventus and Barcelona have met six times in European competition in the past, with nothing to separate the two continental heavyweights: two wins, two draws and two losses apiece. There last meeting came in the 2003 Champions League quarter-final, where Juventus earned a 1-1 draw at home before beating Barcelona 2-1 in the return leg en route to the Final.
Cherished titles
Juventus have lifted the European Cup on two previous occasions (1985 and 1996), while Barcelona will be looking for a fifth star on their continental jerseys, having won the competition in 1992, 2006, 2009 and 2011.
Interesting facts
- Lionel Messi is aiming to become the first player in Champions League history to score in three separate finals.
- Gianluigi Buffon is the only remaining member of the Juventus squad that played in their last Champions League Final – a penalty shoot-out loss to rivals AC Milan at Old Trafford in 2003.
- Of the 28 goals scored by Barcelona leading up to the Final, Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi have accounted for 25. The trio have scored 120 goals between them in all competitions this season.
- Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon return to the Olympiastadion for the first since lifting the World Cup trophy with Italy in 2006. Fellow defender Andrea Barzagli was as unused substitute in their penalty shoot-out win over France nine years ago.
- Both Barcelona and Juventus are vying for the treble, having secured domestic League and Cup honours this season. The winners will join a list of seven previous teams to have achieved this feat: Celtic (1967), Ajax (1972), PSV (1988), Manchester United (1999), Barcelona (2009), Inter (2010) and Bayern Munich (2013).
- Spain and Italy, who are both represented in this year’s final, are the most successful clubs in the European Cup. Spanish sides have won 14 trophies, and Italian teams 12.
Kick-off in Berlin on Saturday is scheduled for 8.45pm.
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