Barcelona 3 : 1 Juventus
Barcelona won their fifth 2015 UEFA Champions League after taking the lead inside four minutes.
Neymar, Messi and Iniesta were all involved but it was Croatian Ivan Raktic who supplied the finishing touch past a helpless Gianluigi Buffon.
Luis Suarez netted the winner 13 minutes afte after a surprise equaliser from Alvaro Morata in the 55th minute.
Neymar added the third in stoppage time.
The opening goal shaped the match and Barcelona’s confidence remained high throughout the game, even during the 13 minutes the sides were level.
Juventus were hoping to win their first Champions League since 1996 and their third over all.
Andrea Barzagli replaced Giorgio Chiellini who had featured in every game of the Juventus run to the Berlin final, leaving Suarez to find someone else to bite.
Juventus had their chances with Chilean Arturo Vidal blasting over when the score was still 1-0 before Buffon’s save stopped Luis Suarez doubling Barcelona’s lead. Carlo Tevez was denied by a late intervention by fellow Argentinian Javier Mascherano. Claudio Marchisio drove straight into Barca’s German keeper Marc-André ter Stegen midriff.
However, the plethora of chances fell to Barcelona and Juventus were having trouble containing them. Vidal had picked up an early yellow for a foul on Busquets and seemed to be tempting the red into a second with a second foul, before holding back Dani Alves. It seemed a matter of time before he was dismissed.
Paul Pogba followed him into the Turkish referee’s notebook on the stroke of half time for cutting down Messi.
Buffon defied Suarez early in the second half after a sweeping move with a great low dive to his right. Messi then fired over from a good position. Barca were creating chances at will, leading and both Juve’s enforcers were already on yellow cards. Still, while it is 1-0 there was always a chance.
And Juve took that chance. Marchisio backheeled cleverly to the Swiss defender Stephan Lichtsteiner. His cross resulted in a Tevez shot, which was saved but fell at the feet of the ex Real Madrid player Alvaro Morata who netted his fifth in the competition this season.
Juve had their tails up and there were chances at both ends, with Tevez firing offer but Barca looking dangerous on the break.
Barca’s second go-ahead goal bore resemblances to Juve’s equaliser.
Buffon filed to hold a Messi drive and Suarez was first to react, finishing sharply. Neymar seemed to have put the result beyond doubt seconds later but the linesman had spotted his handball after the ball had come off Neymar’s head, which re-directed the ball beyond Buffon. Despite his obvious guilt, Neymar protested vehemently.
Juventus lacked the strength to comeback against the odds a second time leaving Barcelona to celebrate their first success in this trophy since 2011.
Scorers
BAR – Ivan Rakitic 4′
JUV – Alvaro Morata 55
BAR – Luis Suárez 68′
BAR – Neymar 90′ (+3)
Line-ups:
Barcelona: Marc-André ter Stegen, Gerard Piqué, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Dani Alves, Ivan Rakitic (Jérémy Mathieu), Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, (Xavi), Luis Suárez (Pedro), Lionel Messi, Neymar
Juventus: Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Patrice Evrà (Kingsley Coman), Paul Pogba, Claudio Marchisio, Álvaro Morata, (Fernando Llorente), Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal (Roberto Pereyra), Carlos Tevez
