Barcelona vs Juventus: Six talking points including Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra, Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez
The wait is almost over. We preview the big talking points surrounding Saturday’s Champions League Final
Let’s get back to business. The football world has been rocked by the FIFA scandal; and we all need a reminder why we love this sport.
Saturday’s final may be the perfect platform for an instant classic. Both teams are chasing a treble and will leave everything on the pitch.
Giorgio Chiellini is out. We won’t be seeing the sequel to Luis Suarez’s World Cup bite.
But, Suarez will be reunited with Patrice Evra. The pair looked to have moved on from their racism row by the time the Uruguayan left for Barcelona, but it ought to be a feisty encounter.
Kevin Garside, sports writer for the Independent, talks us through Saturday’s Champions League Final.
Playing in Italy but made in Manchester. Three key men for the Old Lady spent time at Manchester United. Patrice Evra left for a modest fee after eight years service; Carlos Tevez was deemed surplus to requirements and sold to local rivals Manchester City; and Paul Pogba left on a free to secure first-team football elsewhere.
How Louis Van Gaal must wish Alex Ferguson had kept them – Evra’s experience, Tevez’s goals and Pogba’s dynamism would’ve been invaluable last season.
2015 marks thirty years on from the Heysel disaster. In the 1985 European Cup Final between Juventus and Liverpool, 39 people were killed in the collapse of a stadium wall.
Is it destiny for Juventus to lift the Cup - thirty years on from Michel Platini scoring the winner for the Italian club?
Barcelona look unbeatable. Since the turn of the year, they’ve regained the swagger they possessed under Pep Guardiola. A frontline comprised of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar have been responsible for this resurgence, with an astonishing 120 goals combined this season.
The team will be determined to win a fifth Champions League and cement their position back at the top of club football.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies