Champions League Final 2017 - Juventus vs Real Madrid.

This years UEFA Champions League final is one guaranteed to make history. Juventus, one of Europe's biggest sides, are chasing their first European title since 1996. And Real Madrid, the 11 time winners, are looking to become the first side in the Champions League era to retain the title of champions of Europe. Both sides have had very successful domestic campaigns so far. At the time of writing this Madrid need four more points to guarantee the Spanish title, and Juventus need to win just one of their remaining two games to win their sixth consecutive Scudetto.

Two true giants of European football will go head to head in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on June 3rd. This will be the 19th time the two sides have met in Europe, and with 8 wins a piece, so far there is no separating the Italian and the Spanish sides. The last time they met was in the semi-finals of the 2014-2015 Champions League, with then former Madrid striker Alvaro Morata staring and scoring in both the home 2-1 win and in the following 1-1 draw in Madrid, booking Juventus's place in that years final where they eventually lost to Barcelona. In fact, in recent history, Italy's most successful club have had the beating of Real. Winning 3 out of the 4 knock out ties since the year 2000, Juventus have proved difficult for Madrid to overcome. However when head to head record in the same time frame is looked at, Juventus have only a slight lead with 5 wins to Madrid's 4, and as a one of game is how the final in Cardiff will be decided, we could be in for a very close affair

The Champions League final is, without a doubt, the biggest and most prestigious club game of the season, and requires players who know how to shine when the pressure is at it's highest. Real Madrid have dominated this competition as of late, winning two of the last three Champions League's and with this being their third final in four years. In fact Real have played in five finals since Juventus were last crowned champions, and the Spanish giants have a 100% record in those matches, which includes a 1-0 victory against their upcoming opponents in 1998. Now Juventus have reached a very impressive four finals since 1996, however they have the exact opposite record to Madrid with a 0% success rate in those finals. In the big games Real step while Juve seem to struggle, the Old Lady have also only scored two goals across those games. Including the original iteration of the European cup Juventus have reached 7 finals, only winning two, where as Real have won 11 out of their 13 finals in European cup history, the most final appearances of any side.

History might put the ball firmly in Real's court, however despite history showing Juventus struggle on the biggest stage, this Juventus side might be the closest to the great side of 1996. Alessandro Del Piero, Fabrizio Ravanelli and current Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane just to name a few, the side that won Juventus's last European cup was littered with quality. However, while brought force and incredible attacking prowess won that competition, this years Juventus side have played with a style based on a rock solid defence. Leading into the final Juve have conceded just three goals throughout their campaign, with only one of those goals being scored from open play. With the likes of Giorgio Chiellini, Mehdi Benatia, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Alex Sandro, Dani Alves and Daniele Rugani amongst others, Massimoiliano Allegri has had the opportunity to rotate his defence at his leisure without risking a drop in quality. The has been however the three Italians at the back, Bonucci, Chiellini and Barzagli that have played the majority of the games and proven to truly be an almost immovable object. This incredible defence will however, like any, be beaten. But in this position Juventus are as assured as any side that they will be able to keep the ball out with veteran Italian Buffon between the sticks. Italy's record appearance maker Buffon has been an ever present in the side for over a decade and has this season, proved that like a fine wine he has only gotten better with age. At the age of 39 the Italian is yet to decide when he will hang up the gloves, much to the joy of the Juventus fans, and fans of world football. Gianluigi is a true great and by adding a Champions League winners medal to his extensive collection, he could be considered the greatest goalkeeper of all time, that's if you really need any more clarification.

Cristiano Ronaldo. Need I say any more? Any side with the three Ballon D'or winner amongst their ranks will always cause problems going forward. Today, 14th May 2017, Real Madrid brushed aside Seville 4-1 in the league, and surpassed two goal scoring milestones in the process. As well as Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his 400th goal for the club in just his 391st game, Zidane's side scored for the 62 consecutive match, a European record, surpassing Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich side from 2014. In all competitions five Real Madrid first team players have reached double figures for goals this season, and they have had an incredible 19 different goal scorers. When you look at their opponents in June, Juve have only two goalscorers on double figures. The likes of, of course, Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez, Isco (who is in a very rich vain of form at present), Former Juventus striker Morata and Garath Bale, Real have, much like Juventus have in defence, an incredible roster of attackers to call upon. And then you have Sergio Ramos. The man who would lift the famous trophy should Madrid be successful has a history of scoring big goals, including a stoppage time equaliser in the 2014 Champions League final. The Spanish centre back has 10 goals this season, a very impressive return for any non striker, let alone from a defender. If there is anyone who was going to trouble Allegri's defence in the air, it's this man. Then the case of personal pride slips in. Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi. The biggest question in football and one which divides opinion like no other. Ronaldo is currently one goal behind Messi in the race for the golden boot in this years competition. Despite Messi's Barcelona being knocked out by Juventus in the Quarter finals, Ronaldo is yet to reach the Argentine's tally of 11 with Ronaldo still on 10 and you know that will be in the back of his mind on the night, for better or for worse.

Both teams involved in the final have two league games remaining, and both sides have the league title firmly within their grasps. Juventus need, as I previously mentioned, just one win to secure the Scudetto, where as Madrid need at least one win and one draw to pip Barcelona to the honour of Spanish champions. Juventus also have the matter of the Coppa Italia to deal with, on the 17th they will face off against Lazio for the first of what could be an historic treble for Juventus. Not only do they have one game more then Madrid in the build up to the final, Juventus's season runs for another week after Madrid's end, giving Real a week's advantage in terms of rest and recovery ahead of the game in Cardiff. Maybe however, this favours Juve as it will allow them to hold onto any momentum they create ahead of the showdown with Madrid. Should Juve win the domestic double ahead of the final, they have just 6 days to wait before playing to complete the treble, compared to Real who don't have a competitive game for over two weeks leading into the game in the Millennium Stadium. Neither side can risk resting their top players during the remainder of their respective run ins, and I'm sure both sets of players will have an eye firmly set on Europe's biggest fixture until the day itself.

Attack vs defence. Real Madrid vs Juventus. Spain vs Italy. We could see the Spanish champions vs Italian champions. The two best sides in their respective countries facing off against each other, this is exactly what the UEFA Champions League is for. It really is too close to call and we could be in for a classic, brute force vs tactical class.