Champions League Final Preview 2017: Juventus vs Real Madrid

Champions League Final Preview 2017: Juventus vs Real Madrid
Tonight, the footballing world descends on Cardiff as two European giants go head-to-head for what is arguably the greatest prize in world football. Juventus, with their compact defence, will hope to overcome the reigning champions Real Madrid, who possess a frightening attack, the centrepiece being Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo has torn La Liga defences to pieces all season, scoring 25 goals in the league and 10 goals in the Champions league. Assisted by the tireless Karim Benzema and the “Welsh Wizard” Gareth Bale, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich have both been dispatched by Ronaldo & Co. There seems no way to halt the charging Real attack.
Enter Giorgio Chiellini. The 6ft Italian centre-back has been a defensive wall for Juventus since 2005. With Chiellini at the core, Juventus have only conceded 99 goals in the last 5 seasons, a staggeringly low number. Alongside club and country team-mates Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli, Chiellini has anaesthetised some of the greatest attacking threats in Europe, even halting the great Ronaldo himself in the 2015 Champions League semi-final. But with Ronaldo entering the final at his peak, it is hard to judge who will emerge victorious in attack vs defence.
Juventus aren’t exactly weak in attack, with £75m hitman Gonzalo Higuain and the “New Messi” Paulo Dybala leading the line. Real Madrid centre-backs Sergio Ramos and Pepe will have to be on their toes all night, with Miralem Pjanic’s dissecting balls for Higuain to finish being Juventus’ primary source of goals.

The game winners always take the limelight, whether it is Ronaldo and Higuain with their never-ending supply of goals, or Chiellini and Ramos with their crunching slide tackles, but the person who has been winning matches for Juventus for 16 years is not a striker or a defender: He is Gianluigi Buffon. For well over a decade, Buffon has policed the Juventus goal, being a mainstay in not only the Juventus team, but also in the UEFA Team of the year. The keeper has won 8 Italian league titles, 4 Coppa Italias, 168 caps for Italy and even the World Cup. But he has never won the Champions League. With rumours of Buffon’s retirement this summer, perhaps it was written in the stars that this footballing great’s last appearance would be to clinch the trophy that has eluded him his whole career? We’ll see what Ronaldo has to say about that.

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