Dominant Barcelona Overpower the Old Lady

Luis Enrique's side completes the fabled treble and become the first side to do this twice. Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez netted with Morata equalising between before Neymar secured the victory in injury time. Max Allegri's side put up a brave fight but it was not enough to topple the quality of Barcelona.

It took Barcelona 4 minutes to find their rhythm in this year's final. Lovely intricate play between Neymar and Andres Iniesta allowed Ivan Rakitic to side foot into an empty net. It was definitely not the start Allegri had in mind and a reshuffle beckoned. As predicted, Barcelona had the possession in the opening stages and an early yellow card for Vidal left the Chilean on a tight rope for the rest of the game.

Juventus were being pulled apart by the heart of the Catalonian midfield. The loss of Giorgio Chiellini to injury showed in the early encounters as Juve lacked any leaders the back. With Vidal's early booking, Barca were keen to exploit this with the side utilising their full array of gamesmanship techniques. Allegri showed his faith with Alvaro Morata, and his counter attacking prowess was being used and was getting success out Javier Mascherano. On the counter, Juve were able to break and cause a moment of doubt in the Barca defence. Mascherano looked edgy, but Juve's attacks only culminated in shots easily dealt with.

As half time approached, it was vital that The Old Lady didn't concede another. In the midfield, they weren't able to hold the ball due to the extreme pressure put onto them by a dominant Barca triangle. They may play to the edge of the rules, but some of their passages of play were quite exquistite in the opening half. For the second period, Juve had to regain some of the possession in the middle of the park and, when on the counter, their passes had to find their team mate in order to keep the momentum.

Within the first 5 minutes Luis Enrique's men showed their potency on the counter with a five on three resulting in a fine save from Juve stalwart Gianluigi Buffon. Juve pounced after an intelligent back heel found Stephan Lichsteiner and the Swiss international squared to find Carlos Tevez. Tevez beat the defender before a shot was parried by Ter Stegen and Morata tapped into an empty net. Probably against the run of play, but it was the bit of luck that was needed by the Italian side.

The game descended into an end to end affair with both sides having attempts and one that was wonderful to the neutral. Barcelona restored their lead when Lionel Messi's shot and Buffon's save found the path of Luis Suarez and he finished to send the Catalonian crowd into raptures. Minutes later, Neymar had a goal ruled out by the assistant behind Buffon's goal for hand ball. With Barcelona on top and Juve rattled, a third goal would have effectively killed the game.

As 90 minutes approached, Juventus began throwing the kitchen sink at Barca. Fernando Llorente entered the fray and provided a target for the wide men. As they threw everything forward, Messi, Neymar and Pedro were able to catch the side on the break, and secure their 4th title in 9 years and coveted treble. Juventus fought valiantly but were unable to capitalise for the 5 minutes the game was tied up at 1 each.

For Juventus, they sorely missed Chiellini who guided them through their semi final. For the first goal, while the midfield were at fault, I would have had more confidence if he was on the pitch. For Barcelona, they fully deserved the win. Up front, Messi, Neymar and Suarez wreaked havoc in the Juve defence while the midfield predictably dictated the play. While they still were the victors, defensively Mascherano was exposed by Morata's pace. The defensive performance will not be picked apart by Enrique and his performance analysis team will not worry due to celebrations that will be taking place in Catalunya over the next few days.

Key Performances

While Barca's front trident will receive all the plaudits, Andres Iniesta showed his class as he has done so much in a Barcelona shirt over his career. The linchpin in the centre of midfield was able to invade the space left by their wayward counterparts before finding Ivan Rakitic who finished past the scrambling Gianluigi Buffon. The whole Barcelona midfield deserve praise, but Andres Iniesta looked a class apart throughout this match and the knock-out stage. I was critical of his inclusion in the Team of the Year at the beginning of January, but he will warrant a spot in the ceremony to take place at the beginning of 2016.

I was impressed with the efforts of Gianluigi Buffon. He ultimately kept the Italian side in the contest and a firm paw denied Dani Alves from the edge of the box. Another save prevented Luis Suarez from capitalising on a Barca counter attack. While there were times when the World Cup winner looked nervy in nets, he largely did his job and kept the game on a knife edge. Some will say he was at fault for the Suarez goal, but the Uruguayan's positioning made it impossible for Buffon to parry it away from danger. A solid all round game from the Italian veteran.

Lionel Messi also needs a mention. While he did not get on the scoresheet, his general all round play was exceptional and he was a nuisance for the Juventus defence. Other notable mentions include Neymar and Alvaro Morata who both posed different problems for their respective defences.

Another Champions League campaign has drawn to a close with Barcelona leaving as warranted victors. Luis Enrique emulates one Pep Guardiola by completing the treble in his first season. The events between Enrique and Messi seem to a distant memory, and it's looking more like as the season went on, both sides were rectified and this definitely reflected in some of the performances this year. It's not long to the first qualifying round of next year's competition at the end of the month. With the final in Milan, we can only expect another riveting journey. 

The Post Mortem at the Santiago Bernabeu

As you are probably be aware, there will be no match report for Real Madrid's loss in the Champions League to Juventus largely due to my upset body clock. Instead, I will share my thoughts on what lies in wait for El Galacticos of Spanish football.

To start with, Juventus played a very smart game, even though they lacked confidence in the first half to go and attack (or so I believe!). I did get to witness the second half. It started with constant Madrid pressure and it looked only certain that they were going to add to their total. I thought Pirlo was particularly disappointing on the ball and was at fault for conceding possession often. He will definitely be punished by an inform Barca side if it continues into the final. Former Madrid academy player Alvaro Morata equalized much to the disdain of the Madristas. The goal seemed act as a pill to sap all of the energy and confidence from Real Madrid. Defenders Chiellini and Bonucci were immense and repelled any ball into the box from the Madrid wide-men. The result would have been a shock, but it was no less than what the Old Lady deserved.

Currently in the Spanish capital, a post-mortem will be under way. Pitch forks will be sharpened by Florentino Perez and the Madrid fans for Ancelotti and the players. I think Gareth Bale could be on his way out of the club in the summer with potential suitors coming from England and other fields. I think only Manchester United and Bayern Munich would be able to cough up for Bale due to financial fair play affecting Manchester City. Looking at Carlo Ancelotti, I will be amazed if he still has a job at the start of next season. As I stated in previous articles, not many managers get away with 1 trophyless season in the Spanish capital, so if he was to be given an extra term in the post, he will need to deliver the world to Perez. As it stands, rumours are gathering momentum that the Italian has signed a pre contract deal to take him to Manchester City in the summer.

I remember at the start of the 2015 when I wrote a piece about the dressing room in their greatest rivals, Barcelona, and how that it was fractured with too many egos and not enough control from manager Luis Enrique. In hindsight, I looked pretty stupid considering Barca are now challenging for the coveted treble. Ancelotti is facing a similar situation. Agent, Jonathan Barnett commented that Bale's team mates do not pass to him and that is why he is suffering. This was a very ill-advised statement made before a crucial, season defining match against the Italian giants and I am really not surprised that this has caused disharmonious feelings among the camp. Ancelotti hit back stating that Mr Barnett had not been at any training sessions so he does not having right to say anything. I don't think Ancelotti had any option but to refute the claims. The only thing I have to say about this is that there must be some unrest if the agent were to bring up accusations such as these.

It has been reported in the Spanish publication Marca that boss Carlo Ancelotti has been wanting to drop Bale for the past 2 months but has been unable to due to pressure from Perez. Marca are known to have links inside the 10 times Champions of Europe so if - and it's a big if - these rumours are true, it says a hell of a lot about the politics inside the great football club. How undermining would that be for the world's most expensive player? I also hasten to add that it is also rumoured by the same publication that he hasn't learnt the language, something which will reflect badly on him if it is true. I haven't even began to touch on the incidents preceeding El Clasico over a month ago. I don't think he is liked in the camp. It is evident that the supporters aren't big fans. I'll always remember when Bale was outside the box on the right facing a Juve player. He tried to knock the ball past the defender but a heavy touch saw the ball roll out for a goal kick and ignite a ripple of a sarcastic applause from individuals behind the goal.

I thought that the former AC Milan manager could survive a season with winning nothing as I said in my article on possible destinations for Jurgen Klopp, but now I'm not too sure. I don't see Klopp breaking his 'sabbatical' to leap into that calderon of uncertainty. Anyhow, there needs to be an evaluation of some of the players. On Wednesday, Kroos and Isco offered nothing defensively, something which a Illaramendi or a Khedira would. The league campaign does not challenge these deficiencies, with exception to matches against Atletico and Barcelona. Xabi Alonso has also been a big loss, as Toni Kroos hasn't pushed on as performances at Bayern Munich dictated.

As an attacking force, Real Madrid are right up there. The BBC attack of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano will frighten any defence in the world. This year they have scored total of 70 goals this season, while contributing to 33 goals. Even though Ronaldo has a large majority in this facet, It is quite an incredible tally for the side, more goals than any English side with exception to Manchester City. On the other hand, they can be defensively naive at times. Examples include the 4-0 hammering they took at the hands of their City rivals as well as the defeat at the Nou Camp. This is something that needs to be addressed on the training pitch or else in the summer transfer window.

There will be changes at the Bernanbeu in the summer. Jobs will be lost, but it makes interesting reading as to who will replace Ancelotti. Also, who would even want a job where the fans can turn on you in an instant? I get the impression that the job helps fund a decent retirement package for when managers conclude their career.

Carlos Tevez hands Juventus the Initiative

A desperate performance from Real Madrid ensured that they left Turin having to overturn a 1 goal deficit, while Juventus can be quietly confident about their chances in the Bernabeu.

The game started at a frantic pace with a goalkeeping error from Iker Casillas nearly gifting Arturo Vidal a free shot. Juventus made a positive start with Vidal and Carlos Tevez finding pockets of space between the defence and attack. Alvaro Morata was able to outmuscle Pepe and to get a lobbed attempt on goal from about 25 yards only for the Spanish international to tamely fend it away.

Juve were awarded for their attacking exploits when a pass found Tevez in space on the edge of the box. His shot was palmed away by Casillas only to into the path of his former team mate, Alvaro Morata, and he had the easiest finish of his career. Madrid were still in the changing rooms.

The first 20 minutes belonged to Juventus. They received the majority of possession and dominated the midfield encounter. Their pressure was exceptional and they man marked Cristiano Ronaldo with aplomb. Frustration was building from Ronaldo and co. Tevez and Vidal brought to light Sergio Ramos' incapabilities when he was played out of position.

Juve's vulnerabilities on the flanks were fatally exposed when James Rodriguez was able to beat Patrice Evra and a ball found Ronaldo who ghosted into the edge of the 6 yard area to nod home from point blank range. While the opening 20 minutes belonged to Juve, the confidence began to grow in the final stages of the first half for Real Madrid.

Some brilliant, free flowing football from Real Madrid showed us why they are European Champions. Great build up play from Marcelo and Carvajal allowed Isco to fire the ball along the box and a header from James cannoned off the cross bar to Marcelo who sent it over the ball. This would be the last action of what was an interesting half.

The first ten minutes of the second half was sloppy, but it sparked into life when a scintillating run from Carlos Tevez ended in a penalty when Carvajal bundled the Argentine to the floor. He stepped up to restore Juve's lead and send the Juventus Stadium into raptures. The pendulum had swung back in favour of the Turin side.

As the game grew older, Real were beginning to get more and more edgy. Andrea Barzagli was introduced to help solidify things at the back while, Ancelotti brought on the quarter final winner, Javier Hernandez for some inspiration.

The Mexican looked lively and thrived upon a tired Juve defence but was unable to capitalise. The Old Lady were content to absorb the pressure in the closing stages and try and take a lead to the infamous Santiago Bernabeu. The passion displayed on the pitch from the home side was epitomised through tackles from Vidal and Andrea Pirlo who through their bodies at everything.

Real Madrid had too many passengers tonight and Juventus take a deserved lead to the Bernabeu. They will have every confidence that they can continue their excellent form this year into the return leg while Real will have to think long and hard at how to break a decent Italian defence.