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Gianluigi Buffon was at a loss to explain Juventus ' second-half collapse that saw his Champions League dream snatched away once again.
Defeated at the final hurdle in 2003 and 2015, the 39-year-old admitted in the build-up to the Cardiff showdown he could not let slip this chance to finally get hold of the only major trophy to elude him.
Buffon celebrated wildly when Mario Mandzukic superbly cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo's opener in a thrilling first half against Real Madrid. However, the veteran was left heartbroken as the Portuguese grabbed his second in between Casemiro and Marco Asensio goals as Zinedine Zidane's side wrapped up a 4-1 win.
Show all 23 1 /23Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Champions League final player ratings Which players impressed and who struggled in Cardiff?
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Gianluigi Buffon - 7 out of 10 Had little chance with Ronaldo's fine opening goal. Made several impressive saves though, including one to deny a dangerous dipping shot from Modric. Had little chance with any of the goals.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Andrea Barzagli - 7 out of 10 Caught out for pace on a couple of occasions, but his expert positional awareness always got him out of trouble.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Leonardo Bonucci - 7 out of 10 Effective at both ends of the pitch. And it was his inch-perfect long pass that led to Mandzukic's wonder goal.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Giorgio Chiellini - 6 out of 10 A typically powerful display from the influential defender although Ronaldo escaped him to score Real's third.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Alex Sandro - 6 out of 10 Got forward well and played an important part in Juve's goal, but should have done better defensively for Real's third.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Miralem Pjanic - 6 out of 10 Took a number of wild shots from outside the area and failed to make his presence felt in the middle of the pitch.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Sami Khedira - 5 out of 10 Not the German's best display. Also unfortunate to see Casemiro's long-range hit and hope clip his heels and loop into the goal.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Dani Alves - 6 out of 10 Didn't offer as much going forward as usual. Made a superb first-half tackle to deny a rampaging Ronaldo.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Paulo Dybala - 5 out of 10 Not at his best. Wasted a free-kick in a very promising position by blasting it into the wall and picked up a needless early booking.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Mario Mandzukic - 8 out of 10 No Juventus player made more tackles than the hard-working Croatian. Also happened to score one of the best Champions League final goals of all-time.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Gonzalo Higuain - 6 out of 10 Worked tirelessly and assisted Mandzukic's wonder goal, but didn't have many chances of his own/
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Keylor Navas - 6 out of 10 Could possibly have done better with Mandzukic's goal, appearing to dive with the wrong hand. Didn't have too much else to do.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Dani Carvajal - 6 out of 10 Made more fouls than any other player on the pitch although also made a couple of crucial interceptions.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Raphael Varane - 7 out of 10 A commanding performance from the imposing French defender.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Sergio Ramos - 7 out of 10 Managed to keep his temper in check and led the tackle count for Real Madrid.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Marcelo - 7 out of 10 Another brilliant performance from the full-back. Defended resolutely and has such a good understanding with Isco and Ronaldo down the left.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Toni Kroos - 6 out of 10 The game rather passed the German by. Was given some rough treatment by the Juventus players.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Casemiro - 7 out of 10 A powerful performance. He scored the crucial second goal with a fortuitous long-range strike.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Luka Modric - 7 out of 10 A brilliant performance from Modric, whose perceptive run and quick-thinking led to Ronaldo's third goal.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Isco - 7 out of 10 Continued his good run of form with another bright display. Had a couple of good shots, too.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Karim Benzema - 7 out of 10 A hard-working display from the France international. Teamed up with Ronaldo well and was withdrawn for Bale late on.
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Juventus vs Real Madrid: Player ratings Cristiano Ronaldo - 9 out of 10 Superb. Another economical display from Real's main man. He might have touched the ball the second least amount of times of anybody on the pitch, but he touched it when it mattered most. The game-changer and the man of the match.
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The Italian club's fifth successive Champions League final defeat may have ended Buffon's hopes of winning the competition.
He said: "We are disappointed. We played very well in the first half, we thought we had enough to win the game. I cannot explain why we played like we did in the second half. Real Madrid deserved to win in the second half.
"They showed their class and the attitude needed to play in this kind of game."
Juve had only conceded three goals en route to Wales, only for their miserly defence to be ruthlessly exposed by the Spanish champions.
Coach Massimiliano Allegri said: "I don't think Juventus have reached the end of a cycle at all. Buffon and (Andrea) Barzagli will still be with us next year and they still have a lot to give us.
"Clearly we need to improve the team to achieve a higher level of technical skill - but after the holidays we'll go back to work with a new stimulus. Football gives you the chance to go again next year."
Allegri started the post-match press conference by reading out a statement after news broke of injuries to fans watching the final in Turin.
Fans were injured following a stampede at the city's Piazza San Carlo , which reportedly occurred when firecrackers were mistaken for the sound of gunfire.
The Bianconeri coach said: "I'd just like to say that we feel for what happened to our fans in Turin.
"There was an incident there and we're hoping not too many people were injured seriously and we are hoping that they get better very soon."
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