It’s down to the two best soccer teams in Europe, and we couldn’t get a more intriguing matchup. La Liga leaders Barcelona put their high-octane offense to the test against the stringent defense of Serie A leaders Juventus. Barcelona was spectacular in defeating Bayern Munich 5-3 on aggregate in the semifinal. But Juve may have topped that after denying fans of a Clasico matchup, beating Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate in the semifinals. Can Juve cause another major upset? Check out what these experts have to say about it.
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Barcelona vs. Juventus UEFA Champions League Final Experts Predictions
Bleacher Report
Expert
Prediction
Alex Dimond
Barcelona
Tom Sunderland
Barcelona
Bleacher Report’s Alex Dimond notes that Barcelona may struggle at first to solve Juventus’ suffocating defense.
Juve’s defense has been rock-solid in Serie A over the past four years, allowing just 81 goals in 149 league matches. This excellent defense was on full display in the Old Lady’s second leg semifinal draw against Real Madrid, allowing just one goal on 23 shot attempts. Juve defeated Real 2-1 in the first leg of their semifinal matchup.
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Limiting the La Liga giants is impressive, especially since Real shares the league’s top offense with Barcelona (107 goals). Barca may struggle, but their trio of Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi is just too talented to contain. Dimond sees Barca unleashing their attack toward the latter half of the match.
Tom Sunderland, a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, notes that Suarez has made a huge impact for the La Liga giants. Once he got settled with Barcelona, Suarez has been a terror for opposing defenses. He has scored 24 goals for the Catalans this season.
Sunderland makes a counter-argument, however, that Juve is also a devastating offensive team. He notes their 5-1 aggregate victory over Borussia Dortmund to support his claim. The Old Lady have scored 12 goals in away matches against Dortmund, Fiorentina, Napoli and Lazio this season. If Juve fights fire with fire, then we may be up for one explosive Champions League Final.
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Top Bet
Expert
Prediction
Top Bet
Barcelona
Top Bet believes that Messi is too much too good for Juventus to contain. The four-time Ballon d’Or winner has been impressive in the Champions League this season with league highs of 10 goals and five assists. The Messi, Suarez and Neymar triumvirate have combined for 114 goals this season. The kind of offensive pressure put on by Barcelona is second to none in Europe thus far.
But Juve could threaten with their counterattack. The Old Lady have a handful of masterful midfielders at their disposal in Arturo Vidal, Paul Pogba and Claudio Marchisio. There’s also the ageless wonder, Andrea Pirlo, who could put up a passing masterclass all over the field. Pirlo assisted in Juve’s equalizer in their 1-1 tie against Real Madrid.
