Olympiastadion

Juventus 1
Morata 55;
Barcelona 3
Rakitic 4; Suarez 68; Neymar 90+5;

The magnificent Lionel Messi was somehow kept at bay through a combination of uncompromising Italian defending and Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon’s age-defying brilliance but Bar-celona proved they are not a one-man show.

It was not easy as Juventus kept coming at them but the Catalan heavyweights clearly had that extra spark in attack.

In a scintillating final between these two great clubs, both pursuing a treble, Barcelona embellished their reputation as the greatest team this last decade after overcoming Juve 3-1 for their fourth Champions League triumph in the last nine years and fifth overall.

Driven on by the ageless Andres Iniesta, Barcelona outsmarted the Bianconeri in the first half but it is to Juve’s credit that, for a period in the second half, they looked set to end their 19-year wait to be crowned kings of Europe at the OlympiaStadion, the setting for Italy’s 2006 World Cup triumph.

Their storming rally had been sparked by Alvaro Morata’s equaliser just after the break and, for a time, it looked as though power was going to prevail over class, experience over exuberance but this Barca team are not easily intimated.

They roared back with a vengeance, Messi and Luis Suarez combining for the second goal and Neymar, the other celebrated member of Barcelona’s revered attack, putting Juve to the sword in stoppage time.

Juve had done incredibly well to reach the final but this proved a step too far, albeit they left the field fuming at some debatable decisions by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir who was jeered by the Italian fans as he and his fellow match officials went up the stairs to collect their medals.

The Juve players were given an ovation by their fans and sportingly exchanged high fives with the Barca players who then rightly took centre-stage when Xavi, the departing captain, hoisted the coveted trophy before the dancing Blaugrana players spilled back on to the pitch to celebrate their success with their legions of fans.

They sang Xavi’s name but Barcelona coach Luis Enrique earlier showed that he was no sentimentalist by leaving out the club captain who is moving to Al Sadd in Qatar this summer.

The Catalans’ midfield is strong, with that passing master that is Iniesta pulling the strings, but it is in attack where Barcelona have the most formidable striking trio in world football.

Messi, the game’s most eloquent exponent, began on the right with Luis Suarez on in the centre and Neymar on the left.

A deafening cheer had resonated around the stadium at around 8pm as the Juventus followers saluted their former captain Alessandro Del Piero.

The onus of emulating the guile and vision that defined Del Piero’s successful spell with the Turin giants fell on Arturo Vidal. The combative Chilean was deployed at tip of Juve’s diamond midfield with Carlos Tevez and Morata forging a mobile front duo in a 4-4-2 module.

At the back, Andrea Barzagli stepped in to fill the void left by the injured Giorgio Chiellini.

Juve’s strategy to press the Barcelona players all over the pitch was evident from the initial minutes.

Barely one minute from the start had elapsed when Barca defender Javier Mascherano miscued his clearance which was picked up by Claudio Marchisio who promptly served Tevez but his volley was off target.

The Juve faithful roared their approval but their optimism was shortlived.

In their first significant foray into Juve’s half, Barcelona struck.

Once again, the ability of their midfielders to break forward swiftly and flit into dangerous positions came to the fore as Iniesta collected Neymar’s pass after the Brazilian had weaved his way through. Iniesta drifted past his marker before releasing Ivan Rakitic who prodded past Gianluigi Buffon from close range.

Juve had a good chance to equalise when Morata pulled the ball back to Vidal but the Chilean drove over.

At the other end, Neymar was also marginally high from the edge of the box.

The Italian champions’ travails to disrupt Barca’s rhythm in midfield were evident when Vidal was booked for ploughing into Sergio Busquets.

‘Chi non salta non ci crede’, loosely translated meaning, ‘Those who don’t jump don’t believe’, chorused the Juve fans.

Their players on the pitch needed a lot of self-belief to stop Barcelona who threatened again when Suarez, capitalising on the open space on the right, drove towards the byline before dragging the ball back for Dani Alves who hit a delightful shot but Buffon stuck out his left hand to repel the Brazilian’s effort.

A series of quick passes involving Morata and Tevez sent Paul Pogba scurrying on the left but the Frenchman’s attempted pass to Tevez was intercepted by Mascherano.

Midway into the first half, Morata squandered an inviting chance to draw Juve level as he drove wide from a good position after Vidal’s pressure unsettled Jordi Alba.

The Spanish left-back was caught out, this time conceding possession to Marchisio whose thunderbolt from outside the box flew over. Juventus were alive.

Buffon then blocked a tame effort from Neymar.

As Juve’s midfield anchor man, Pirlo’s position often had to track Messi’s movement and the veteran, with Barzagli always ready to double up, did an excellent job on the Argentine in the first half-hour.

Juve were indignant 10 minutes from half-time after being denied what they felt was a legitimate penalty after Alba looked to have brought down Pogba just inside the box.

Juve were winning more balls in midfield but Barca, who enjoyed 64 per cent possession in the opening half, always carried a threat going forward.

After hitting narrowly wide following a diagonal incursion through the right, Suarez was then thwarted by a fine save from Buffon.

The umpteenth foul on the advancing Messi, this time by Pogba, had Enrique dashing out of the dug-out to voice his discontent.

Danger loomed for Juve when Neymar cut out Buffon’s pass to Stephan Lichtsteiner but the Brazilian’s cross just eluded Suarez.

The game remained finely-poised with Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen stopping a Marchisio effort before Messi embarked on one of his trademark weaving runs only to roll the ball wide.

A sweeping Barca breakaway, after Enrique’s troops had repelled Pirlo’s corner, ought to have yielded a second goal as Rakitic galloped all the way from his own half into Juve’s box before setting up Suarez but the Uruguayan was again denied by Buffon.

Suarez volleyed against the side-netting after pouncing on Bonucci’s hasty clearance.

Barca seemed to have found another gear. An exquisite interchange involving Neymar, Suarez and Messi drew gasps of admiration as the Argentine accelerated to his left to reach the Uruguayan’s return pass only to blast over.

But, as happened in the first half, it was Juve who scored 10 minutes into the second half.

Their pressing high up the pitch paid off as Lichtsteiner, who had beaten Neymar to a clearance, raced forward to collect Marchisio’s deft reverse pass. The Swiss right-back veered into the box and picked out Tevez who turned before firing a strong shot that Ter Stegen did well to keep out but Morata was there to drive home.

Cue scenes of joy among the Juve fans.

Barcelona teetered. Another forceful Juve move had the Spanish champs on the backfoot as Lichtsteiner, powering forward on the right, served Marchisio who in turn switched to Tevez but the Argentine fired high. Pogba then had a shot blocked by the goalkeeper.

Juve upped the ante but Barca, again, conjured up a goal out of the blue.

They surged forward on the counter through Rakitic who passed to Messi. The Argentine shook off the attentions of the defenders but his grounder was parried away by Buffon only for Suarez to score from the loose ball.

Juventus were furious as they claimed that there had been a foul in the lead-up to the goal, while moments earlier, they had also appealed for a penalty after Pogba went down under Alves’s challenge.

With 19 minutes remaining, Barca thought they had sealed it when Neymar headed home from Alba’s cross but the Brazilian’s effort was ruled out for a handling infringement.

Xavi came on for Iniesta 12 minutes from time, a Barca icon replacing another while for Juve, Roberto Pereyra entered the fray with Vidal making way.

Pique had a glorious chance to extend Barca’s lead but volleyed over after receiving a brilliant through-ball from Rakitic.

Fernando Llorente, on for Morata, freed Pereyra three minutes from the end but the Argentine was crowded out.

Ter Stegen touched away Marchisio’s drive before stopping Tevez’s central effort as Juve pushed for an equaliser.

Barca rubberstamped their win in stoppage time, Neymar killing off Juventus with a simple finish after receiving from substitute Pedro as the Italian champions had again been caught on the counter.

Juventus
G. Buffon, A. Barzagli, L. Bonucci, S. Lichtsteiner, P. Evra (89 Coman), P. Pogba, C. Marchisio, A. Pirlo, A. Vidal (79 Pereyra), A. Morata (85 Llorente), C. Tevez.

Barcelona
M.A. Ter Stegen, G. Pique, J. Mascherano, J. Alba, D. Alves, I. Rakitic (90 Mathieu), S. Busquets, A. Iniesta (78 Xavi), L. Suarez (90+3 Pedro), L. Messi, Neymar.

Referee: C. Cakir (Turkey FA).

Att: 70,442.

Yellow cards: Vidal, Pogba, Suarez.

Nation	Winners	Runners-up
Spain	15	10
Italy	12	15
England	12	7
Germany	7	10
The Netherlands	6	2
Portugal	4	5
France	1	5
Scotland	1	1
Romania	1	1
Yugoslavia	1	1
Greece	0	1
Belgium	0	1
Sweden	0	1

The winners

Real Madrid	10
Milan	7
Bayern Munich	5
Liverpool	5
Barcelona	5
Ajax	4
Inter	3
Manchester United	3
Benfica	2
Juventus	2
Nottingham Forest	2
Porto	2
Celtic	1
Hamburg	1
Steaua Bucharest	1
Marseille	1
Borussia Dortmund	1
Chelsea	1
Feyenoord	1
Aston Villa	1
PSV Eindhoven	1
Red Star Belgrade	1