Although Atletico Madrid and Monaco will still have something to say about it, only a brave and hardy soul would bet against a Real Madrid v Juventus final on June 3, in Cardiff.
Both teams are at the top of their game just now and the ‘attack v defence’ type scenario that we should expect, will have everyone on the edges of their seats.
The sub-plots to the final are many and will add to the occasion.
For a start, Zinedine Zidane will face the club who he left for Real Madrid as a player. Indeed, he had already played against Los Blancos in a Champions League final – and lost. He actually signed for Juve from Bordeaux when the Bianconeri had just won European football’s biggest prize in 1996 – still the last time they’ve held the cup with the big ears aloft.
Though the Frenchman has ostensibly been seen as a Real Madrid legend since hanging up his boots, it’s worth remembering that he did only play four more games for the Spaniards than he did for the Italians.
Dani Alves, who has been in unstoppable form this season in Serie A, gets the chance to add another winners medal to his collection for the team whom he helped defeat in Berlin just two years ago.
Gonzalo Higuain, despite looking overweight, still knows where the goal is and just how much will he relish getting one over on the team that shunted him to one side once Karim Benzema had arrived in the Spanish capital.
Alvaro Morata, if he gets the opportunity, will play against a side he didn’t really want to leave and for whom he scored against Barcelona in 2015. Against the likes of Chiellini and Bonucci, Morata needs to be physically right, but he’s likely to struggle against a defence that has only conceded two goals in the entire competition to this point.
Perhaps the real story, however, involves Gigi Buffon. A custodian who is universally respected for his ability and sportsmanship, it’s a travesty that he’s never managed to win the trophy.
His tears at the end of the 2015 final suggested that he thought his chance had gone, but the finger of football fate has picked him out again. Unless you’re a supporter of Real Madrid, then there’s little doubt that you’ll be rooting for Buffon to finally lay his ghost to rest.
It would certainly underscore a remarkable career, and no one would begrudge the Italian his time in the spotlight.
And yet, that’s to completely discount a side that have scored in almost 60 consecutive games and are relentless in their pursuit of a result. Nine times this season already, Real have scored in the 85th minute or later.
Moreover, Zidane’s side will be just 90 minutes away from becoming the first side in 27 years to retain the trophy. Manchester United came closest, getting to the final in 2009 before losing to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side.
That team that had a certain Cristiano Ronaldo playing for them in his final match as a Red Devil before heading to Madrid in a world record move.
Alongside Lionel Messi, the hero that day, Ronaldo is still at the peak of his powers and though he may not possess the electric pace of yesterday, his maturity and in-game intelligence are second to none.
Give him a chance and he’ll bury it – as we saw against Bayern Munich and Atletico in the first leg.
After coming so close with United, though on a personal level he wasn’t at the races in Rome, he’ll not want to miss out again, especially if Real have already sown up their first La Liga since 2012 by then.
Recent domestic records between the pair pale into insignificance of course. The Bianconeri are on course for their sixth successive Scudetto and look a better outfit now than when they had Messrs Pogba, Pirlo, Vidal et al in site.
If Real were to go on and deny Juve, it would also represent their first double in almost 60 years, whilst the Italians would sew up the treble with a win. With so much to take in, this really will be a final that lives up to the hype.
What a match we have in prospect!
