Tensions are rising among tens of thousands of Maltese supporters of Juventus as the Italian giants face Barcelona in the Champions League final tonight, hoping to create a major upset.

Big screens have been erected in different areas around Malta, as bars expect to capitalise on a sporting night out.

Match fever has even infiltrated the political arena, with the Labour Party planning to organise an open-air barbecue in front of their Ħamrun headquarters, where the match will be shown live from Berlin on a big screen.  

As expected, all three local Juventus supporters’ clubs, including the one in Gozo, will mobilise their hardcore supporters in separate events, hoping this will be a long night to remember.

Labour MP Franco Mercieca, a frequent traveller to Turin, expressed confidence his team would beat the odds.

Opposition leader and Juventus supporter Simon Busuttil said he prefers to watch the game away from the crowds and will perhaps join in the celebrations in case of a positive outcome.

“I will be watching the game at home with my partner, Kristina, and my son, as on such occasions when the stakes are so high, I am no longer sociable,” he said.

Dr Busuttil vividly remembers the day he went to watch the Champions League final in 1985 at Heysel Stadium in Belgium, when 39 fans, mostly Italian, were killed when part of the stadium collapsed before the start of the final against Liverpool.

“I can consider myself lucky, as originally we were allocated tickets in the section where the tragedy occurred, but had managed to find a better location in the main stand where there would not be so much overcrowding,” Dr Busuttil recalled. However, he pointed out that while events were unfolding in front of him, it never crossed his mind he was witnessing once of football’s greatest tragedies. 

Malta Football Association media officer Mark Attard, a vociferous Juventus fan  is ruing his decision last January not to buy tickets for the final, thinking the final was not within his team’s reach. “Juve’s accession to the final has been so unexpected that last January I turned down an opportunity to buy the tickets for the final, as it looked like an impossible mission,” Mr Attard told Times of Malta.

While acknowledging that Barcelona were clear favourites, he said it was still possible for the Italian team to lift the trophy.

This newspaper also spoke with a number of fans who were on their way to Berlin as part of a trip organised by Juventus Club Malta Cuore Bianconero.

Club secretary Jean Borg said the trip was coordinated through contacts with the parent club as soon as Juventus clinched a spot in the final after eliminating holders Real Madrid.

Asked about their plans, he said that regardless of the result they would go to Turin soon after the final and hopefully join in the celebrations.

Meanwhile, preparations are already under way in Birkirkara, where Juventus Club DOC Vero Amore will be organising a street party in front of their premises.

Club president Joseph Fenech expressed cautious optimism while admitting that he has endured sleepless nights in the run-up to the game.

A Juventus success would place the Italian club on a par with arch rivals FC Internazionale, who have won the competition three times.

The game starts at 8.45pm and will be shown live on TVM2.

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