Scores of diehard Maltese Juventini are preparing their flags and scarves for the game of a lifetime, having been among the lucky few to nab tickets for the biggest and most expensive match of the year.

Juventus, one of Malta’s favourite adopted football teams, take on Barcelona in the Champions League final in Berlin on June 6, the first time in 12 years the Italian champions will be contesting the final.

Tickets for the game are in huge demand, with the cheapest tickets currently available online being sold for over €2,000 each, compared to a face value of just €70.

Uefa have allocated only 20,000 seats to each side in the 70,500-capacity Olympiastadion, with 6,000 going on general sale and 24,500 set aside for sponsors, corporate partners and Uefa members.

But super-fan Michael ‘Buffon’ Cauchi said he was going crazy with anticipation. His father, a fan of rival team AC Roma, surprised him with a ticket for the final on his birthday last week.

“This is really big for me. Even bigger than the last general election and I’m a hardcore Nationalist,” Mr Cauchi, 27, said.

He looked back at the 2006 Italian football scandal that had seen Juventus relegated to the second tier and stripped of two league titles, and said he had always hoped to see his heroes back on top.

Barely able to contain his excitement, he broke into a string of Italian catch phrases normally used by commentators, “Dai ragazzi, dai” (‘Come on, boys’).

Malta Football Association president Norman Darmanin Demajo said he had been inundated with requests for tickets and was sad to be turning people away.

This is really big for me. Even bigger than the last general election

The MFA is allotted between 30 and 50 tickets for every year’s Champions League final, and most are snapped up quite quickly. This year, however, had seen a huge number of fans scrambling for tickets, he said. “These tickets are always sought after. But, when a team like Manchester United, which has a strong following in Malta or in this case, Juventus, make it to the final, then the interest is huge,” Dr Darmanin Demajo said.

MP Franco Mercieca with Juventus director Pavel Nedved.

Labour MP Franco Mercieca, a lifelong Juventus fan, will be another of those cheering the team on in Berlin.

This will be the third time Dr Mercieca has watched his team contest a Champions League final, having been present in 1983 when Juventus lost to Hamburg and in 1985 when they beat Liverpool at Heysel in Belgium, a game infamous for the stadium disaster that left 39 people dead before kick-off.

Acknowledging that his team are very much second favourites, Dr Mercieca said he was nonetheless hopeful of a positive result.

“We’ve lost so many finals as favourites, now that we’re the underdogs, maybe it will be our year,” he said.

Jean Borg, secretary of the Juventus Supporters’ Club Cuore Bianconeri, said about 20 club members would be making the trip to Berlin.

The vast majority are season ticket holders who snagged some of the club’s allocated tickets, while two were lucky enough to get their tickets in the Uefa ballot.

“We didn’t expect to be here at the beginning of the season, so it’s going to be a brilliant experience,” said Mr Borg.

“As Juventus fans, we’re always positive. After all, the club’s motto is: Fino alla fine (‘until the end’).”