It's the biggest day of the footballing season as Juventus and Barcelona put it all on the line in Berlin tonight with the European Cup at stake in the Olympiastadion. Confidence is high here in Barcelona with plenty of locals suggesting it is more a question of how many Barca will win by, rather than if Barca will actually win but of course Bo is not quite so sure that it will be as straightforward as the locals imagine. Here is my big preview, prediction and best bets for the grandest game of them all. 20.45 - Juventus v Barcelona - Prediction - 1.2, Best Bets = Neymar to score anytime @8/5, Messi to score First @10/3, BTTS @ 5/6, Barcelona to win and Messi to score @2/1,
The final of any competition can be tough to predict, but tonight's affair while seeing an underdog against a strong favourite is just as difficult to call for Bo with plenty of people writing off the Italians a little too easily for my liking. Juventus are the clear under-dogs, and rightly so, given their opponents quality but this is a champion team packed with top players who know how to defend and I expect a closer contest than perhaps the majority of punters are anticipating. One part of me does feel that if Messi turns up and delivers as we expect then a humbling for the Italians is possible and wouldn't surprise anyone, especially with Juventus missing their inspiritional defender, the beast that is Giorgio Chiellini but Juve are made of strong stuff and in Buffon and Pirlo they have 2 genuine legends of the game who are absolutely desperate to win the biggest prize of all as their careers draw to a close. Chiellini's loss is certainly crucial and disappointing given the history with Luis Suarez and the Italian international so vital to their defensive organisation and his very presence alone might have done enough to distract Suarez who has also hit top form since the turn of the year. Fellow Italian international Andrea Barzagli will deputise for the injured defender in their preferred back 4 formation. One player who will be crucial for Juventus is Paul Pogba and the young Frenchman certainly has the quality to hurt Barcelona on the break with his pace and energy perhaps unmatched by anyone on the pitch tonight. Pogab is a real gem of a aplayer and is joined in a tremendous midfield comprising the excellent Vidal and Marchisio as well as the potentially departing, Andrea Pirlo. Reports today suggest that the midfield maestro has agreed a move to MLS side New York City and with this likely to be his final game for the club, you can bet your bottom dollar that the bearded genius will be desperate to put in one final display of mastery in this the biggest game of his career since the 2006 World Cup final. Barcelona though have been imperious since the turn of the year winning 30 of their last 34 matches to secure a league and cup double while the king of Barcelona (and the rest of the world) has regained his top form and the narrative is surely set for little Leo Messi to once again deliver on the biggest stage of them all. Messi's goal in last weeks cup final was right out of the official handbook, a goal so skillful and repetitive that he must have trademarked it by now and when you have the greatest player in the history of the game in the biggest game of the season, it's hard to look past him. I fancy Messi to score first @10/3 and anytime @1/1. He's 5/1 to score 2 or more and that's certainly not beyond his capabilities here. Still, it's not all about Messi with Barca boasting a strike-force that has scored a remarkable 120 goals this season and I fancy Neymar to hit the back of the net once more @8/5 with the Brazilian poster boy scoring 12 in his last 12. Juventus will need to deliver the performance of their lives and I actually think they might get somewhere close to that but it still probably won't be sufficient on the night with the Catalan quality surely too much for Juventus to deal with, particularly in the absence of the aforementioned Chiellini. Juventus have the joint worst European Cup/Champions League Final record of any team with five defeats in seven finals, and this is their first appearance since losing to AC Milan on penalties in 2002-03. In contrast, Barca have reached the Final three times in nine seasons and won them all in 90 minutes so we shouldn't really expect anything different tonight. However, and there's always a however for Bobookies, I just have a feeling it's not going to be so easy for Barca. I like to rely on my gut for these big games and my big gut is telling me that Messi will be the master and Juve will perform to their maximum, and will, at times, cause the favourites some problems. Juve have enough quality to score tonight, but can they keep Barca out? I'd say it's almost impossible so the 5/6 on offer for BTTS looks decent enough but I'm looking for a correct score for my free bet with Bet365 and I fancy the favourites to just edge it 2.1 @7/1 odds. If Barca score early, I expect them to hit 3 or even 4 but there's a good chance the Italians will be resolute and restrict Barca in the opening 20 minutes or so. If they can do that, then who knows, it's certainly not impossible that they could even take the final to extra-time but I keep coming back to the fact that it's just impossible to ignore that front trio of Barcelona who will surely have too much quality ultimately, and in the end it will be a gallant but defeated Juventus who will leave with high heads and tears in their eyes as they fall to a team that are just too good going forward to stop. I'm going for 2.1 Barcelona @7/1 but don't rule out the 3.1 @12/1 and Messi to score first @10/3 or Neymar @5/1 Comments are closed.
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