Juve, Barca primed for Champions treble clash

Both Juventus and Barcelona are looking to cap fantastic seasons by completing rare trebles when they meet in the Champions League final at Olympic Stadium in Berlin on Saturday.

Juventus is appearing in its first Champions League final in 12 years as it looks to win the European Cup for the third time, but Barcelona, inspired by Lionel Messi, is the favorite to win a fifth European Cup and fourth in the last decade.

Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri and his Barcelona counterpart Luis Enrique have already enjoyed excellent debut seasons in charge of their respective clubs, both winning domestic league and cup doubles, and both are now within striking distance of making it a glorious treble.

For Barcelona, it would be a second such treble following its fantastic first season under Pep Guardiola in 2008-09, but such an achievement is very rare.

Only six other clubs have ever won a domestic league and cup double and the European Cup in the same season, with Celtic's Lisbon Lions of 1967 the first.

Since then, Ajax (1972), PSV Eindhoven (1988), Manchester United (1999), Inter Milan (2010) and Bayern Munich (2013) have repeated the feat.

Barcelona can therefore become the first club to do it twice, and its current team contains several members of that 2009 edition under Guardiola.

"We are still a young team. There are still quite a few players from the Guardiola era," said Enrique. "This could turn out to be an historic season for us."

Juventus, meanwhile, will either join that elite group of clubs or become the first to lose six European Cup finals.

The Italian champion's main task is to blunt Barcelona's razor-sharp attack of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, which has sliced through defenses on the road to Berlin.

The South American trio has scored a stunning 120 goals between them this season, compared to the 103 managed by the entire Juventus team.

With 58 goals in all competitions, four-time world player of the year Messi is in the best form of his illustrious career, but Juventus can ill afford to focus on containing his talents alone.

Messi destroyed Guardiola's Bayern Munich with two goals in the first leg of their semifinal before setting up Neymar for the third at the Camp Nou.

But in the return it was Suarez and Neymar who did the damage, combining for two first-half goals at Allianz Arena which put the tie beyond Bayern.

To make Juve's task even harder, centerback Giorgio Chiellini was ruled out of the final after tearing a calf muscle in training.

'Game of our lives'

But Juventus has neither flown to Berlin just to witness Messi's magic first hand nor does it wish to see him become the first player to score in three Champions League finals.

"This is the game of our lives," said Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, its sole survivor from its last Champions League final, the defeat to AC Milan in 2003.

"I would always want to be starting off as a favorite, but we have our weapons to try to make Barcelona's job more difficult," added Buffon, who along with Pirlo won the World Cup at the same stadium with Italy in 2006.

With four consecutive Serie A titles behind it, Allegri's side carries a wealth of experience.

"They have that Italian competitive edge. It is always difficult to overcome that because they are very, very competitive," said Barcelona's Javier Mascherano.

"They are very tactical. They understand soccer and on top of that they have a lot of talent."

Four of its squad have already won the Champions League with other clubs: Pirlo with Milan in 2003 and 2007; Patrice Evra and Carlos Tevez with Manchester United in 2008 and Alvaro Morata with Real Madrid last year.

Despite celebrating his 36th birthday last month, Pirlo remains a menace in midfield and his potential battle with Xavi Hernandez, on his final appearance for Barcelona, promises a fascinating sub-plot to the Berlin final.

Banking on Barcelona

If Saturday's Champions League was decided by financial figures, Barcelona would beat Juventus easily. Here's how the two clubs finances and support shape up, according to studies by the Repucom sports data company:

Value of squad

Barcelona $665 million vs Juventus $380 million

Average match attendance this season

Barcelona 76,737 vs Juventus 38,446

TV and radio rights earnings per year:

Barcelona $190 million vs Juventus $160 million

Sponsorship and advertising revenues

Barcelona $200 million vs Juventus $80 million

Number of people in the world who follow finalists

Barcelona 540 million vs Juventus 290 million

(China Daily 06/06/2015 page11)