Juventus vs Real Madrid Preview

Juventus meet Real Madrid at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday 3rd June in the final of the 2017 UEFA Champions League.

This final represents the two best teams in Europe this season by far – Juventus knocked out Barcelona comfortably while Real Madrid embarrassed Bayern Munich in the quarters.

Juventus’ road to the final has been relatively straightforward.  They won Group H after taking 14 points from their 6 games with 4 wins and 2 draws.

They went on to defeat FC Porto 3:0 in the last 16 – they followed that win up with an impressive 3:0 win over Barcelona.

Juventus outclassed AS Monaco in the semi-final winning that tie 4:1 on aggregate.

Real Madrid finished 2nd in Group F with 12 points after winning 3 and drawing 3 games.

They went on to destroy Napoli 6:2 on aggregate in the last 16.  They followed that victory up with a 6:3 aggregate win over Bayern Munich – one of the most impressive victories in Europe this season.

Madrid met their bitter rivals Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals and although Atletico looked like staging a comeback in the second-leg, they were hit with a sucker punch and ended up losing that game 4:2 on aggregate.

Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal were both injury worries coming into this tie however both are back in training – Bale has admitted he may not be able to last 90 minutes but his availability is huge for Real.

Juventus have no injury worries after Sami Khedira announced himself ready to play against his old club.

Betting odds:

Juventus were not one of the big 3 in betting contention throughout the season – bookmakers believed the winner would come from either Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.

Bookmakers make Real Madrid very slight favourites to come out on top in this tie.  They are currently trading at odds of 2.60 while Juventus are 2.90.  The draw is currently 3.20 for those who cannot split the two sides.

Goal related betting market suggest that this game will be low-scoring – odds of there being over 2.5 goals is currently 2.25.

Cristiano Ronaldo is 2.10 to score anytime during the game while there are some seemingly overpriced midfielders who could score first – Modric and Kroos are both above 20/1 to score the first goal while an interesting market Sami Khedira to score anytime at odds of 5.50 will attract punters who believe he will score against his old club.

Cardiff is hosting a very intriguing final – Juventus have shown they can score plenty of goals however their generic strategy is to defend deep and not concede.

Real Madrid on the other hand will be all-out attack and although they have conceded plenty of goals so far in this campaign, they have simply outscored teams and this has been their strategy for many years.

Cardiff is hosting a blockbuster final that features the two best sides in Europe this season – Real Madrid are ultimately favourites however Juventus will do their best to keep things tight and hit them on a counter.

Possible Starting Line-Ups:

Juventus (3-4-2-1): Buffon, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Alves, Pjanic, Khedira, Sandro, Dybala, Mandzukic, Higuain

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Kroos, Casemiro, Modric, Isco, Benzema, Ronaldo

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions