Champions League Final
The Champions League Final is the most watched sporting event in the world with a global audience exceeding 350 million viewers. Arranged by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Champions League is a prestigious tournament that utilizes a complex coefficient system to determine which clubs can compete in the grand European Cup.
It’s time to transform into the soccer fanatic you truly are. Here’s everything you need to know to be prepared for the 2017 Champions League Final. Read on!
Italian Side vs. Spanish Side
The Spanish club Real Madrid and the Italian club Juventus have a history of going head-to-head with each other in the Champions League.
There’s no other way to look at it – both champions competing in the final leverage a real home-field advantage. A total of 18 Champions League matches have ensued between the competing teams: With nine of those games unraveling at Juventus Stadium, the other eight matches were hosted on Real Madrid’s world-famous stomping grounds, Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. One round transpired on neutral turf.
“Juve,” “Juve,” “Juve!” is the enthusiastic chant that echoes throughout the sold out Juventus Stadium in an effort to galvanize the team. The Turin-based squad has claimed victory at six of its nine home matches and has scored 21 goals (an average of 1.17 per game) throughout the 18 showdowns. Conversely, Real Madrid won five of their eight home games with the tremendous support of die-hard Madridistas at their extravagant stadium. Real Madrid trails behind in total goals scored, with 18 shots passing the goaltender (one goal per game, on average).
Champions Route
The journey to the Champions League Final is no walk in the park, so let’s see how the matches culminating to this imperative round went down.
Real Madrid defeated Napoli 3-1, with goals credited to Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Morata, and Dries Mertens shipping one right into his own team’s net. Next, in the quarterfinals, Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo wreaked havoc on German team Bayern Munich by netting a total of five goals between both matches. The Meringues advanced to the semifinals, where they downed Atletico Madrid in return for a one-way ticket to the finals.
After achieving shutout success against both F.C. Porto and F.C. Barcelona, Juventus teammates are adamant in proving the durability of their back-line. We’ll even go as far as saying the team is a contender for the best defensive group in Champions League history. In the semi-finals, AS Monaco managed to break Juve’s back-line and ship one goal in – but it wasn’t enough to prevent La Fidanzata d’Italia (translation: “The Girlfriend of Italy”) from progressing to the finals.
Standout Strikers
As the Champions League Final approaches, standout players from both the Spanish and Italian sides will leave everything they have on the field with one objective in mind: to hoist Ol’ Big Ears above their heads once again.
Looking to break their team’s 21-year Champions League drought: Dani Alves, Gonzalo Higuaín, and Paulo Dybala have their eyes set on the big prize. Italian football (soccer) has been attracting elite superstars as of late, and Juventus players hope to continue the trend by bringing home one of the highest accolades in European football.
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If there’s one player you should direct your attention toward, make it Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese megastar is in peak condition and is showing no signs of slowing down in the concluding weeks of the season. Alvaro Morata and Karim Benzema are the other Real Madrid players to be on the lookout for – both proving to be central pieces to Real Madrid’s success during their campaign.
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It All Comes Down to This
Calling all Madridistas and Juventus fans alike! Heading down to Principality Stadium to witness the Champions League Final? Be sure to deck yourself out from head to toe in your team’s latest threads. Check out Fanatics today for all of your Real Madrid and Juventus fan gear and memorabilia!
Sources
- http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/26/football/champions-league-vs-the-super-bowl-real-madrid-atletico-madrid/
- http://en.fanchants.it/football-songs/juventus-chants/juve-2/
- https://www.thoughtco.com/how-teams-qualify-for-champions-league-3557316
- http://www.worldfootball.net/teams/real-madrid/2017/3/
- http://www.goal.com/en/news/8/main/2017/05/03/35171412/juventus-on-course-to-have-the-best-champions-league-defence
- https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/sports/soccer/theres-no-mistaking-the-champions-league-trophy-ol-big-ears.html
- http://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2017/05/18/591d5e5346163f765e8b45e5.html
- http://talksport.com/football/champions-league-2017-10-reasons-we-want-juventus-win-trophy-170509237937?p=1
