CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Juve vs Madrid – the route to the final

Spanish giants Real Madrid take on their Italian counterparts Juventus in the Champions League final this Saturday in Cardiff as the European football season comes to a close.

Both sides arrive at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium as champions of their respective leagues, in an intriguing clash that brings together perhaps the best attack in the continent against the best defence.

Zinedine Zidane’s men will be seeking to be the first team to retain the trophy, but the French manager understands he’ll be facing a side that will not make it an easy task.

“Real Madrid are absolutely not the favourites,” Zidane had said.

“It’s very difficult to score against this Juve side. The defence isn’t their only strength, either. They have great players in attack, too.”

The Massimiliano Allegri’s side will be looking to lift the title for the first time since 1996. The last time they met the catalans was in a semifinal two years ago, when Juventus ran out 3-2 winners on aggregate to set up a final clash with Barcelona in Berlin.

“Madrid have a lot of strengths. They’re an extraordinary side with great technique and pace,” said Allegri.

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“They’re used to playing in these kinds of games, so it will be a great final. We should be very pleased that we’ve made it this far, but we’re going into this year with a completely different level of belief than in 2015.”

Meanwhile, taking a look at how both teams have fared so far in the competition, one can conclude that we shall be having an epic battle in Cardiff late Saturday.

It’s been a great competition for both teams enroute the final, with Real winning 8 games, drawing 3 and losing just 1; while Juve won 9, drew 3 and lost none. Below are the full results of both teams throughout this season’s Champions League:

REAL MADRID: Group stage

Real Madrid 2-1 Sporting Lisbon
Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Real Madrid
Real Madrid 5-1 Legia Warsaw
Legia Warsaw 3-3 Real Madrid
Sporting Lisbon 1-2 Real Madrid
Real Madrid 2-2 Borussia Dortmund

Last 16
Real Madrid 3-1 Napoli
Napoli 1-3 Real Madrid (Aggregate: 6-2)

Quarter-finals
Bayern Munich 1-2 Real Madrid
Real Madrid 4-2 Bayern Munich (Aggregate: 6-3)

Semi-finals
Real Madrid 3-0 Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Real Madrid (Aggregate: 4-2)

JUVENTUS: Group stage

Juventus 0-0 Sevilla
Dinamo Zagreb 0-4 Juventus
Lyon 0-1 Juventus
Juventus 1-1 Lyon
Sevilla 1-3 Juventus
Juventus 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb

Last 16
Porto 0-2 Juventus
Juventus 1-0 Porto (Aggregate: 3-0)

Quarter-finals
Juventus 3-0 Barcelona
Barcelona 0-0 Juventus (Aggregate: 3-0)

Semi-finals
Monaco 0-2 Juventus
Juventus 2-1 Monaco (Aggregate: 4-1)

 

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