Ivan Rakitic has opened the scoring in the Champions League final and Barcelona won the Champions League final for the fifth time, beating Juventus 3-1. (Getty)
Final Score
Barcelona 1-2-3
Juventus 0-1-1
Barcelona won the Champions League final on June 6, 2015, earning their fifth Champions League crown over the Italian giants. Barcelona had not made the Champions League final since winning in 2011, but now has four titles since 2006.
Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring in the fourth minute after outstanding pace of play that included 18 passes and was at the end of a pass from Andres Iniesta. Barcelona dominated pace throughout the first half, and the game, finishing with 62% possession.
Juventus answered in the early part of the second half, though, as Carlos Tevez streaked down the right side of the pitch and fired a shot at Barcelona goalie Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The German goalie saved, but the ball was left for Alvaro Morata at the far post and the Spanish forward leveled the game. He scored twice against Real Madrid in the semifinals and, in the 55th minute, gave the Italian champions life.
After a back and forth 10 minutes, Barcelona answered through Luis Suarez. Lionel Messi paced down the left side of the pitch and fired on Juventus goalie Gianluigi Buffon. The Italian goalie was game for the shot, but not the rebound; Suarez scored his seventh goal in the Champions League and the game-winning goal of the Champions League.
Neymar scored in the 97th minute as Juventus overcommitted on the attack, finishing with 10 goals in the Champions League. He scored in each leg of the quarterfinals and semifinals as well.
Here are the highlights from this exciting final match of the 2014-2015 Champions League season:
Ivan Rakitic Scored For Barcelona in the 4th Minute
Ivan Rakitic scored on a left footed shot from the center of the box to the center of the goal and the goal was assisted by Andres Iniesta. This is the fourth quickest goal in Champions League final history and the second Champions League goal in 2014-2015 for Rakitic.
Alvaro Morata Scored For Juventus in The 55th Minute
Carlos Tevez cracked a shot on goal to the right hand side and Alvaro Morata was on the left hand side to calmly score his fifth goal in the Champions League this season. He finished in rare company:
Luis Suarez Scored For Barcelona in The 68th Minute
Off of a shot from Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez clears up the rebounded and gave Barcelona the lead. This is the seventh Champions League goal of the season for Suarez.
Neymar Scored for Barcelona in the 97th Minute
Off of a breakaway, Lionel Messi passed to Neymar for the third goal of the game to cap the victory. Neymar scored in both legs of the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final for Barcelona.
Lineups
Juventus : Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Lichtensteiner, Evra (Coman 89′); Marchisio, Morata (Llorente 85′), Pirlo, Vidal (Pereyra 79′), Pogba; Tevez
Juventus Reserves: Storari, Ogbonna, Coman, Padoin, Pereyra, Sturaro, Llorente
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Rakitic (Mathieu 91′) , Iniesta (Xavi 78′); Suarez (Pedro 95), Messi, Neymar
Barcelona Reserves: Bravo, Bartra, Adriano, Mathieu, Xavi, Rafinha, Pedro
Stats
Goal: Barcelona- Rakitic (4′); Suarez (68′); Neymar (97′), Juventus- Morata (55′)
Shots (on goal) : Barcelona- 17 (8), Juventus- 14 (6)
Possession:Barcelona- 62%, Juventus- 38%
Tackles:Juventus- 24, Barcelona- 19
Fouls: Juventus- 24, Barcelona- 12
Yellow Cards: Juventus- Vidal (11′), Pogba (41′); Barcelona- Suarez (70′)
Preview
Barcelona has been outstanding during the Champions League season and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is the leading scorer in the competition, with 10 goals in 12 appearances. Barcelona has scored two or more goals in nine of the past ten Champions League games. Barcelona is fresh off of a La Liga title after a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid and is looking for the Copa del Rey title over Athletico Bilbao as well on May 30. Barcelona’s last Champions League final was a 3-1 win over Manchester United in 2011, their third championship in six seasons.
Juventus has been one of the stingiest defensive teams in the Champions League this season, allowing 0.58 goals per match and posting six shutouts. Juventus is 6-3-1 in their past 10 Champions League matches, only losing 1-0 to Olympiacos in Group A play. As well as winning Serie A, Juventus is the COppa Italia champions, beating Lazio 2-1 on May 20 for their 10th Coppa Italia title. In their last Champions League final, in 2003, Juventus lost 3-2 on penalties to AC Milan after a 0-0 draw for 120 minutes.
Juventus and Barcelona have only faced off nine times in history, with Juventus holding a 4-2-3 advantage in the fixtures.
