Juventus would today at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, trade tackles with Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final for the continent’s top prize, even as the two managers thread with caution.
Juventus have not won the Cup since 1996, while Real are the defending champions, and Juve coach, Massimiliano Allegri says they need to be fully focused.
Indeed, this final in Cardiff will be the 19th meeting between Juventus and Real Madrid – all in the European Cup. Out of the 19 games played so far, both clubs have eight wins each and two draws, with Juve scoring 21 goals to Madrid’s 18.
It therefore follows that this game will be the decider of who is the better of the two sides.
To romp into this year’s final, Juventus finished top of their group, ahead of Sevilla, Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb, respectively, progressing past Porto in the last 16, dumping Barcelona out in the quarter-finals and recording a 4-1 aggregate win over Monaco in the semis.
Real on the other hand finished behind Borussia Dortmund in their group, but eight points clear of Legia Warsaw and nine ahead of Ronaldo’s former club Sporting Lisbon.
They produced home and away 3-1 wins over Napoli in the last 16, before defeating Bayern Munich 6-3 on aggregate and overcoming neighbours Atletico Madrid en-route to the final.
This epic final, which experts have described as ‘a gritty encounter’, will be a fight between two honour chasing managers.
Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane replaced Rafa Benitez as boss in January 2016 and ended that season just one point behind Barcelona in La Liga – but won the Champions League with a penalty shootout victory over Atletico.
This season, Zidane has led his side to their first league title in five years and stands to win his second successive Champions League trophy.
Meanwhile, Juventus’ Massimiliano Allegri took the helm of affairs in July 2014 after spending four years with AC Milan, replacing now-Chelsea boss Antonio Conte – who had resigned to take the reins of Italy’s national side.
Since then, Allegri has won the Serie A title in each of his three seasons and guided the Old Ladies to two Champions League finals, losing his last 3-1 to Barcelona in 2015.
Interesting, both sides have displayed a high sense of attacking football on their way to this final. But how tactical one would be to outwit the other will likely determine who runs away with the coveted trophy.
Real Madrid have scored more goals, creating more chances, hitting more shots on target, providing a greater counter-attack threat and possessing superior attacking aerial threat in the course of this championship.
In fact, Real’s top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who has fully adopted his new centre forward role, has scored 10 goals in the competition – twice as many goals as Juve’s most prolific striker Gonzalo Higuain. In terms of creating chances, Toni Kroos and full-back Marcelo lead the way for Madrid – with the former also able to launch pin-point precision from set plays.
However, it should be remembered that Juve have the capability to score many goals against powerful, attacking Spanish sides, having all-but secured a quarter-final victory over Barcelona with a 3-0 first-leg home win.
But in terms of style, the two clubs attempt similar passes, with Juventus slightly higher in proportion in their own half than Real – primarily by Medhi Benatia and Andrea Barzagli.
However, Real’s weakness is their vunerability. Real are vulnerable across a defence line charged with attacking intent, in addition to being more error prone and facing more shots. In addition, Madrid are more prone to being caught offside, missing more shots and big chances.
Juventus on the other hand would seek to be economical in attack and Higuain would need to convert any opportunity at goal, as the game is likely to be a case of attack against defence.
If they fail to breach Juve’s defensive solidity, Zidane’s men might be in for trouble.
Zidane acknowledged this fact when he was quoted to have said “Real Madrid are absolutely not the favourites. It’s very difficult to score against this Juve side.”
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