Juve have conceded only three goals in the Champions League all season and Real Madrid must find a way through their central defensive setup in the finalScoring goals is not something Real Madrid usually have a problem with. They have scored in every game this season and have not failed to score since Manchester City stopped them in the Champions League semi-final last year, a run of 64 games in a row in which they have found the net. If any team can stop them, though, it is Juventus, who have let in only three goals in 12 European games this season and only 27 in 38 in Serie A, and are equally comfortable in either a back three or...
Madrid are on the verge of a third Champions League title in four years, yet Ronaldo’s smothering persona is obscuring an exceptional eventCristiano Ronaldo has been grandly ever-present before Saturday’s Champions League final, lurking behind every object in your eyeline like the sky, or God. Away from football the Ronaldo newswire has been ticking and whirring away through the night. Ronaldo reveals his summer style secrets. Ronaldo’s girlfriend may or may not be pregnant. Ronaldo has been declared the most famous athlete on Earth – by an algorithm.As Real Madrid and Juventus complete their preparations for an intriguing final in Cardiff a large part of the analysis has, as ever, been bound up in trying to explain Ronaldo. Rarely can...
The Argentina striker is unbowed by big-stage flops and ready to deliver the trophy Juventus fans crave in the Champions League final against Real MadridGonzalo Higuaín could have lost his temper. He could have ranted about the 32 goals he has scored this season, or the double that set Juventus on the path to victory in the Champions League semi-final against Monaco. With a press officer trying to drag him away, he could just as easily have turned his back and ignored the question altogether.Instead, his response to being asked whether he would fluff his lines against Real Madrid on Saturday – just like he had in the finals of the 2014 World Cup and the Copa América Centenario –...
Real Madrid’s Marcelo and Dani Alves of Juventus have redefined their position while bringing plenty of trophies to their clubs in the past 10 years“Three months ago some people wanted to strangle him,” Massimiliano Allegri said with a smile, but that night they just wanted to hug him. The story goes that when Dani Alves arrived at Juventus, Gigi Buffon took him to one side and asked him to teach them how to win the Champions League. He might not be able to do that exactly but Allegri was speaking just after Alves had taken them to Cardiff, delivering the pass for the first goal and volleying home the second in Monaco. He had already provided two assists in the...
Madrid scored in every game this season. They are one game from a first league and European Cup double in 59 years. This is historic, even for themFor a moment there Marcelo looked a bit worried. Danilo, Casemiro and Lucas Vázquez bundled back out of the press room a little less noisily than they had bundled in, chanting and spraying champagne about. Álvaro Morata followed them, getting out of the manager’s chair and taking the bottle off the desk as he departed. The Brazilian pushed him towards the door but then paused. Glancing down a little sheepishly, he picked up the TV they’d knocked as they bounced around and set about trying to fix it. From one side, Lucas said...