5 things to look out for in the Champions League final

The past two Champions League finals involving Real Madrid have both concluded with the image of Cristiano Ronaldo ripping off his shirt in celebration. Both were intoxicating displays of testosterone which nevertheless marked two rather disappointing performances from the world’s best player, who looked worn out in Lisbon and Milan and then, last summer, succumbed early to injury in the final of Euro 2016. Ronaldo is due a signature performance in a major final; happily for Real Madrid, the indications are that he is ready to deliver one.

Ronaldo didn’t speak to the press in Cardiff, but he did recently explain why this season, things will be different in the Champions League finale. “I have played seven, eight games fewer than previous seasons and that showed at the end: we have managed it more intelligently,” Ronaldo said after Madrid won La Liga. “These are the games things are decided in.”

Zidane’s decision to rest Ronaldo in the end of the domestic campaign - no small thing for a player who wants to score as many goals as is humanly possible - has reaped a big reward. Hat-tricks in the quarter-final and semi-final against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid are an ominous sign for Juventus in this one-off spectacular involving two of Europe's greatest teams.

Gianluigi Buffon is certainly aware of the threat Ronaldo poses. Asked to comment on the suggestion that the two are effectively in direct competition not only to win the Champions League, but also by extension the Ballon d’Or this year, he responded: “As far as I am concerned I am not that conceited. I wouldn’t put myself on the same pedestal as Cristiano. We have different roles. Mine is simply to defend and his is to attack so we are complete opposites. He is able to determine much more the outcome of the match because of the role he plays and also because of his background and history.” Nobody does it better, in fact. And Ronaldo is in better shape for this occasion than ever before.

The meeting of an Italian and a Spanish team in the Champions League final lends itself to lazy national stereotyping, but Zinedine Zidane, a man who has a distinguished playing record in both countries, urged people to abandon such anachronistic interpretations of this magnificent Juventus team. “It’s going to be a very open game on both sides,” he said. “I’ve lived there, I’ve been there. The famous Catenaccio, they have that but they don’t only have that. What I’m expecting is an open game and all the better for everyone.”

Both teams are most readily identified by their own iconic BBC formulations: the Juventus back three of Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini, and the Madrid attack of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano. But both systems could be ruptured in Cardiff. Juve have, since January, had much success in employing their ‘five star’ attack, which means Barzagli and the back three being sacrificed in order to get Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic, Juan Cuadrado and Miralem Pjanic on the pitch at the same time. Meanwhile, Gareth Bale will almost certainly be on the bench due to a lack of match fitness, giving Isco the chance to manipulate the game between the lines.

Neither manager would confirm such suspicions on Friday, but if these are the teams and systems selected then it could lead to the kind of game Zidane promised. Juve would be tilted firmly towards attack - especially with Sami Khedira hardly the most inhibited of defensive midfielders and Dani Alves and Alex Sandro providing attacking width from full-back - while Allegri feels Isco gives Madrid more attacking invention and intelligence, but also more instability in defence. “If Bale plays he is very fast, great speed, and in the open field he is devastating because in three passes he gets the ball to the other side. If isco plays he plays more inside, less predictable, but at the same time Real Madrid lose a bit of order in the defensive phase, so we have analysed that.”

“People like fairytales.” So said Gianluigi Buffon on the eve of a game which could complete the medal collection of one of the all-time greats; at 39, this could well be his last chance to finally win the Champions League. As the greatest goalkeeper of modern times, quite possibly ever, Buffon’s personal quest has been one of the most prominent threads ahead of the final in Cardiff. Xavi, a member of the Barcelona team who denied Buffon two years ago in Berlin, spoke for many when he said of the game in Cardiff: “The final is 50 per cent for both teams, but I want Juventus to win for Buffon.”

The Italian is a true giant of the game but he has lost two finals now. As a result, even though there are so many prominent personalities on display in Cardiff, there is a sense that this is almost becoming ‘the Buffon final’. It ramps up the pressure on a man who has conceded just once from open play this season in Europe, but Buffon appears to be taking it in his stride. “I am still a young boy, even if I am 39 years old,” he said. “This match is very important for me. I have been playing for Juventus for many, many years. I have got more than I took from the game but at the end of the day it would be the perfect finale.” It would certainly be some story.

Saturday’s final is, said Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, an “appointment with history”, and that naturally holds for both teams. But the psychological context for Real Madrid and Juventus could hardly be more different. Juventus have not won the competition since 1996, their second triumph, while Madrid are bidding for their third trophy in four seasons, and 12th overall. One team is trying to overcome a legacy of failure, the other to suppress any instinctual complacency.

As Sergio Ramos told the press on Friday evening: “We try to forget about the trophies we have won in the past; we have to think that it is the first one we are going to add to our CVs.” For Juve, the mental trick is similar in nature, but different in form. Allegri spent his press conference trying to tell his players to forget about the fact that Juve have lost in their past four finals, to banish any remnants of an inferiority complex. “History doesn’t count,” he said. “We can’t think of the past.”

The trick is harder for Juve to pull off. Madrid’s legacy of success has made their Champions League exploits almost a self-fulfilling prophecy: in this competition, Madrid just win. It’s as simple as that. And yet Allegri’s performance in his press conference was convincing, and you truly believed him when he said: “We didn’t come here to visit Cardiff - we came here to win the trophy and take it home.”

The persistent criticism of Real Madrid is that their success has been built on the brilliance of individual talents, acquired for huge sums, who give them the edge in the biggest matches when the margins are at their smallest. It is a fair analysis. In both of their wins over Atletico Madrid in 2014 and 2016, Diego Simeone’s side were clearly the far better drilled unit, but they didn’t possess the matchwinners of their local rivals. This season, though, Madrid have looked a more convincing unit, especially in their highly-functioning midfield of Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric, and in the way Zidane has utilised all the players in his squad to bring the team to the Champions League final in peak condition. With Ronaldo’s goal input dropping, and the B-team shining, this has necessarily been more of a true team effort, and indeed a squad effort.

Furthermore, Juventus are hardly short of stars. In Dani Alves they boast a player who has won 33 major trophies, but the free transfer signing from Barcelona, who joined last summer, says Juve’s strength is still their ability to subdue their egos and pull together. “I’m an eternal apprentice - I want to learn as well from their experiences,” he said on Friday, “That’s our strength as a group: we are joining up all the different experiences we have had, joining forces, giving it all and trying to bring the cup back home. We are not composed of individuals, the biggest thing we have to show in this sport of football is to play as a team, and make our team bigger than the other team we are facing.”

Madrid are pretty adept at pooling their experience and winning trophies themselves, as their record indicates, but Buffon offered a reminder that however strong Zidane's unit is, his stars still stand out more. Asked if he had been having nightmares about Benzema and Ronaldo, Buffon told the press: “I have not had dreams about them, probably because I would have to dream about a lot of other Real Madrid players who can do us and me damage. One night is not enough and I need to be ready to play.”