Off the wire
• Chinese shares close mixed Friday  • Uganda maintains 71st place in FIFA rankings  • Indian military conduct march in Indian-controlled Kashmir to prevent protests  • Lack of trust costs Cannavaro Evergrande job  • Myanmar's Suu Kyi to visit China  • Tokyo stocks fall slightly on overseas markets losses  • U.S. allegations about hacking from China "not responsible, counterproductive": embassy  • Sri Lankan president likely to attend UN Human Rights Council session in September  • Commentary: Philippine president's absurd fanfare  • Two Indonesians convicted for attempting to leave Singapore illegally  
You are here: 　 Home

Barca and Juve looking for a treble

Xinhua, June 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

FC Barcelona will be at full strength on Saturday night when they look to defeat Italian champions Juventus to win the fifth Champions League in the club's history.

Saturday's game in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin promises to be a clash of the football Titans as the Spanish and Italian League and Cup double winners go head to head.

There is no doubt that a Barcelona side led by the free scoring trio of Leo Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar are the favorites, but nobody should forget that Juve 'the Old Lady' as they are known, knocked Barca's eternal rivals Real Madrid out of the semi-finals.

That has denied us the intriguing prospect of a Barca-Madrid final, but with former Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata looking to give fans of his former club something to smile about, Barca would be well advised to take nothing for granted.

Defender, Gerard Pique, who will partner Javier Mascherano at the back warned that Juventus have quietly made their way to the final, where nobody expected them to and said that the attacking threat posed by Morata and Carlos Tevez could not be ignored.

Juventus will be without central defender Georgio Chiellini after he suffered a muscle injury that will deny fans the chance to see him face Suarez after last summer's biting incident which led to the Barca forward getting a four-month ban.

Barca meanwhile have no injury doubts and are looking for a repeat of the treble they won in 2009 under Pep Guardiola. Indeed Barca coach Luis Enrique, who was within one defeat of losing his job at the start of January, has said that the chance of a treble is what drives his side on and that it the treble, rather than the Champions League alone which is the target.

With Jordi Alba and Dani Alves (who could be playing his last game for the club unless he agrees a new contract) and a midfield of Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta, Barca will look to dominate the ball, attack and pressure their rivals into mistakes.

They are favorites and there is nothing they want more than to dedicate the treble to departing veteran Xavi Hernandez, but as Luis Enrique has warned, being favorites counts for nothing before the ball has been kicked. Endi