Hundreds of Maltese Juventus fans are on their way to the Welsh capital for tomorrow’s match against Real Madrid, hoping this time they will break their jinx and lift football’s most coveted trophy.
Billed as the biggest sporting event of the year, this year’s Champions League final will be a repeat of the 1998 event in which the Spanish giants triumphed to be crowned kings of Europe for the seventh time after a 32-year wait.
While Real Madrid went on to lift the trophy four more times, for the Italians it was a completely different story as they hold the unenviable record of being on the losing side more than anyone else – six times – the last of which was two years ago against Barcelona. Their only two victories came in the infamous 1985 Heysel final and 11 years later in Rome.
This time around, however, Juve fans are in high spirits believing their losing streak in the finals will come to an end.
Omar Busuttil, from the Juventus Club Doc Malta Cuore Bianconero, confirmed that 80 supporters from their club would be at the National Stadium of Wales, in Cardiff.
Many other Maltese fans have made their own travel arrangements not to miss what they hope will be the experience of a lifetime. The majority made arrangements to vote early in the general election.
“Compared to the 2015 final, we are expecting a bigger crowd of Maltese supporters at the stadium,” Mr Busuttil said.
Apart from having reinforced their squad at the start of the season, Juve fans are taking solace from the fact that, in the Champions League era, the holders have never managed to defend their crown. So, Real will have to break this trend for the Italians to be on the losing side once again.
“It’s now or never. This is the best squad we have had in many years and so I am confident Juve will finally triumph,” Mr Busuttil said.
Joseph Fenech, from the Juventus Club Doc Vero Amore, who is already in the UK with a group of 30 club members, said: “This is our year and we are confident that Juventus can make it.
“I would have been more apprehensive had we played Atletico Madrid in the final.”
However, some of the Juventus fans expressed disappointment that ticket prices were rather prohibitive. Marcel Mejlaq, from the Gozo-based Juventus Club Doc Vecchia Signora, was one of them.
“The average price of the tickets on the market soared to €1,400 despite the fact that they were originally being sold from €130. Furthermore, one night’s accommodation in Cardiff would cost at least €200, apart from the flights,” he said.
An online ticket search yesterday showed that the few remaining tickets left were being sold in excess of €1,600.
While many in Malta may believe that Spanish football has little following, it transpires that plans are well under way to open a Real Madrid supporters club.
This follows a Facebook group launched some years ago, which now has about 700 members.
Though they have no official premises yet, an agreement was recently reached to screen live games at the Red Ones club in Ħamrun. The group is already in contact with the Spanish club to get official recognition.
Tomorrow’s final promises to be the most balanced in years, though bookmakers have put the holders as slight favourites.