CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
Juventus Champions League final news: Allegri, Alves, history...
With Champions League Judgement Day now upon us, AS English pulls together to bring you all the final bits and pieces of Juventus-related news.
With the hands on that clock moving relentlessly towards kick-off time in tonight’s lip-smacking final at the National Stadium of Wales, Cardiff (20:45 CET), we take a final look at what’s happening in the Juve camp as Allegri’s men look to pull the handbrake on Real Madrid’s march towards their date with history.
Allegri on Isco, Bale and the favourites
In Saturday’s pre-match press conference, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri discussed some of the key components in Sunday’s final, namely the Isco-Bale issue and what both bring to the table: “Bale has great pace with space to run into. Isco is different: he plays more centrally and makes them more unpredictable [in attack], but also makes them defensively more disorganised”. Allegri was also under no illusions about Real's quality, and believes that Los Blancos have the edge in terms of being handed the favourites tag: "They've shown that at the moment they're the most dangerous team in the world."
Ruling the roost
According to AS editor Alfredo Relaño Juventus are up against it tonight, despite their domestic glut over the years. If we flick back through the history books in the Champions League: “Real and the European Cup will forever be united by a special bond - they became what they are together. Nothing provokes a sense of duty in Real like a final like this,” he argues. The Old Lady will surely have other ideas.
Alves having none of it
Juve’s marauding right-back Dani Alves, however, was in bullish mood ahead of Cardiff, ruffling a few white feathers as he referred to Real’s winner, scored by Mijatovic when the two sides met in the final back in 1998: “It's time for history to come back around because the last time Juventus lost a final to Real Madrid, it was through an offside goal," the Brazilian asserted.
Playing for both sides
Take a look back at those players who have donned both Real Madrid and Juventus shirts, the most obvious being the current Real coach and a certain Argentinian striker with a possible point to prove?
