If Barcelona or Juventus win the treble, which would be a more commendable feat?

Both Massimiliano Allegri and Luis Enrique are chasing a treble this season

As it stands at the time of writing, Juventus are 90 minutes away from a treble. Having secured the Coppa Italia to add to their magnificent Serie A triumph, Massimiliano Allegri’s star-studded squad need only to defeat Barcelona in Berlin to make it a clean sweep.

Barca themselves have the small matter of an Athletic Bilbao side who, whilst weakened by the loss of Iker Muniain, will give absolutely everything to bring home a Copa Del Rey title that they have been close to winning in 2009 and 2012. Both times ironically, they lost in the final to Barcelona. Third time lucky?

Should Barca replicate Juve’s cup success then we will have only the second Euro final in history where both finalists are going for the treble. The only other time this has happened was in 2010 when Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan side defeated Bayern Munich.

For many, the Catalans remain overwhelming favourites to lift their fourth Champions League in the last decade, but that is doing Juventus a huge disservice.

Juventus have dominated Italy this season

The Italians have just strolled to their fourth successive Serie A title. When I say strolled, I mean they could have gone on a two-week summer holiday and still returned to find themselves champions. They have been the best team in Italy by a huge distance.

They’re not the biggest scorers. Napoli in fourth have scored the same amount of goals, 67, as the Bianconeri. Yet Allegri’s side finished a cavernous 20 points ahead of Rafa Benitez’s side.

How have they done so? At its most basic level, Allegri has relied on that old Italian ethic of catenaccio. Not in its truest sense, for he hasn’t played with a libero, but the manager has built his success on the sturdiness of his back line. Only 21 goals conceded is far and away the best in the division.

Allegri got the best out of this Juve squad where Conte failed

Antonio Conte’s Juve side were as successful domestically but always appeared to come up short on the European stage. Perhaps that was as much to do with a continued use of an ageing Andrea Pirlo, who dominated his midfield opponents from the get-go in his earlier years but is, dare we say it, beginning to fade away a little now.

Allegri has identified the same and hasn’t used Pirlo in quite the same way, preferring to focus more on the obvious talent and work ethic of the outstanding midfielder of his generation, Paul Pogba. The skill set that the 22-year-old brings to the table is enough to trouble any team, and yes he will give his potential new employers Barca a torrid night in Berlin.

Paul Pogba has been the key player in Juventus’ midfield

Pogba is the cog that oils the wheels. The reference between defence and attack. Juve are a lot more vertical in their play with Pogba in situ. The equally tireless Arturo Vidal shares the load if needed which allows Pirlo, or Marchisio if preferred to spread the play at will. Allegri has another player who will run through brick walls for fun – Carlos Tevez. His battle with compatriot and ex-West Ham colleague Javier Mascherano will be one of the highlights of the final.

Can Juve pick apart Barcelona?

Essentially this Juve side, apart from their heady mix of youth and experience, is one that just wears you down. That is relentless in achieving their goals. In so many respects, a lot like Luis Enrique’s Barcelona. Whilst there is every chance that Juve can win the midfield battle if the Catalans aren’t on their mettle in that department, Allegri’s side won’t have entertained a forward line anywhere near as potent as Messi, Neymar and Suarez.

To put their prowess into some sort of perspective, Juve as a side have scored 97 goals in all competitions. Barca’s front three alone have 115 goals. Perhaps more pertinent to the discussion is that Enrique has found the key to the lock in terms of how to beat teams that “park the bus”. The term is a little derisory if applied to the Italians, but clearly Giorgio Chiellini, Patrice Evra et al are going to need to be at their very best to stop the Catalans.

Barcelona’s trio of Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi have scored more than 100 goals this season

Chiellini, in particular, may feel that he has Suarez’s number. He kept the Uruguayan quiet during the World Cup and Suarez’s eventual frustration at not affecting the outcome is what led to his ban for biting. Whether or not Barca come into the match also going for the treble, Enrique will insist his side play in his own image. Combative, competitive, wearing their heart on their sleeve and giving their all.

Enrique has turned around Barcelona’s season

That is one of the major differences of this Barca side to the one that Tata Martino left behind. This time last season, the Blaugrana looked tired and disinterested. Bored if you prefer. Enrique has restored that sense of pride in the shirt. The “Barcelonisme” that was missing from the last campaign. His biggest win aside from eventually getting his staff to buy into his blueprint, is the way he has integrated all three of the front players into a monstrous and successful record-breaking unit.

Don’t be fooled by the old maxim that “anyone can coach those types of players.” Balancing the egos of three of the world’s best players against each other and the squad as a whole has required man-management of the very highest order.

Ditto the situation with Gerard Pique. The clown of the side was left laughing on the other side of his face when Enrique showed his hand earlier in the season. His revival as a world-class exponent of the defensive art is another reason why the Catalans are on the verge of becoming the first club in European football history to win the treble twice.

For Enrique, it would represent a rubber-stamping of a style that was criticised whilst he was at AS Roma, and in the early days of his Barca tenure. Allegri would also have assuaged the doubters who felt that Conte was still the man to take Juve forward.

The Olympiastadion in Berlin will host the Champions League final between Juventus and Barcelona

Who will come out on top in Berlin?

In terms of the difficulties of achieving the Holy Grail, we have to give credit to both managers but particularly to Enrique. Never having managed at such a high level before, and certainly not to any successful degree, it was something of a gamble by Josep Maria Bartomeu to hand him the reins.

Against the backdrop of a relentless pursuit from Real Madrid in particular, Enrique has kept Barca focused his first reward came in the Vicente Calderon. That’s not to downplay the achievements of Allegri, but even he would admit that domestically Juventus have been head and shoulders above anyone in the league.

The outcome of the final is too hard to call at this stage. The unstoppable force against the immovable object? Quite possibly.

And football will be the winner.