That Barcelona’s ‘MSN’ – Messi, Suárez, Neymar – are poised to take on the formidable ruggedness of Juventus, with an indomitable defence led by the uncompromising Giorgio Chiellini, in the Champions League final only adds to the sense of occasion.
Barcelona, although actually outscored by Bayern Munich in the competition this season, have the best attack. Juventus have the best defence. It appears to be the irrepressible force coming up against the immovable object. As ever, in football, eventually something has to give even if that something may depend on a penalty shoot-out.
There are so many sub-plots to this encounter and even if some neutrals felt a pang of disappointment that the Champions League Final was not another Clasico, denied by the brilliantly-marshalled way in which Juventus defeated Real Madrid in the semi-finals, the presence of the Italians adds another dimension.
Immediately here are two of the biggest clubs from the two most successful nations in European Cup history even if it is Juventus’ first final in a dozen, largely turbulent, years. There is Gianluigi Buffon, 37 years old, who played – and lost – in that 2003 final and who won the World Cup with Italy in this same Berlin stadium in 2006, with Marc-André ter Stegen in the other goal. The German was just 18 months old when Buffon made his league debut for Parma.
There is Andrea Pirlo for Juventus and Xavi Hernández for Barcelona – although he will probably start on the bench in his last match for the club hoping to make a record 151st Champions League appearance – two of the finest, most nuanced midfielders in the history of the game. There is Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal, and Claudio Marchisio against Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Andrés Iniesta.
And then there are those attacks with Álvaro Morata and Carlos Tévez – a formidable strike-force with Xavi referring to Tévez as "simply extraordinary” – against the Barcelona trident who have been responsible for 120 goals so far this season — including two for Messi and one for Neymar in Saturday night’s 3-1 Copa del Rey final victory over Athletic Bilbao, which took them past the record of 118 set by the Real Madrid trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín in 2011-12.
"Having those three, there’s no doubt, it’s something you can’t compare with. So, I think at this current moment we have the best strikers in the world. I think the future can only get better because they’re relatively young with plenty of potential. The real winners are Barca. I played with [Thierry] Henry, [Samuel] Eto’o – great strikers – but let’s say right now the threesome we have now are unique.”
Nevertheless it is a far cry from the start of the season when Suárez was banned – serving out the four months for biting Chiellini, of course, with the pair facing each other for the first time since that encounter, to add another sub-plot – and then coming into a team with claims of whether he would fit in, wider friction, Messi’s apparent unhappiness and questions over the future of the new coach Luis Enrique (who rumour has it still might leave this summer).
Now the triumvirate has clicked with an extraordinary synchronicity which follows on from their squad numbers – nine (Suárez), 10 (Messi), 11 (Neymar) – and what has been as astonishing is not just the number of assists that they have provided for each other, with their scoring rates accelerating, but the selflessness with which they have played for each other.
Barcelona have the best player from Argentina, the best player from Brazil, the best player from Uruguay and have them in the ultimate forward-line. It does not take a genius to work out why they are so potent although it does take a degree of chemistry that ego, in such combinations, often prohibits. But the arrival of Suárez, in particular, has knitted that attack together.
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