JUVENTUS 1, REAL MADRID 4
As Juventus and Real Madrid fought out a spellbinding final of the Champions League, Manchester’s two clubs could only have looked on in envy.
The showpiece of European club football at the National Stadium of Wales was a masterclass and the level that Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho must strive to replicate in they are to dine at the top table.
But on the evidence of the displays from these two giants of the game, the Mancunian clubs are still some way short.
United, Champions League winners in 2008 and finals in each of the subsequent two years, are nowhere near that level when they had Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez as their formidable front three.
And as they return to the Champions League next season, after an absence in the campaign just ended, they are not at the level of these two finalists.
The same applies for Guardiola’s City after they reached the knockout round of 16 when they bowed out to AS Monaco.
Guardiola is still some way from being able to go toe to toe with the likes of Juve and Real.
It was feared the final would see these two giants cancel out one another in a tactical battle.
But that was anything but the case as it was a refreshingly open final in which both sides played their part, though Real’s second-half showing took your breath away – they were awesome.
Juve, with only two wins from eight finals before this game, made an electrifying start as Gonzalo Higuain and Miralem Pjanic forced saves from Keylor Navas in the opening seven minutes, the latter a stunning stop low to his right.
This Juve was a far cry from most of their sides from yesteryear that were built on solid defensive foundations and were dire to watch. The current class is attack minded, dynamic and hugely entertaining to watch.
Then against the run of play, Real snatched the lead after 20 minutes with their first chances after a sweeping move from left to right.
Cristiano Ronaldo played the ball out the ball to Dani Carvajal on the right and ran on to the return to fire a shot low to the right of Gianluigi Buffon from just inside the box for his 104th goal in the Champions League.
Juve were stunned, but displayed resilience and were on level terms within seven minutes with a goal of stunning quality from Croatian Mario Mandzukic.
He chested down a cross and found the net with an expertly executed overhead kick from just inside the box that looped over the head of Navas.
Real sealed victory with two goals in three minutes midway through the second half, two further strikes of the highest quality.
A Juve clearance fell to Casemiro whose terrific strike of the run took a slight deflection off Sami Khedira before arrowing low past Buffon.
Real, with the bit firmly between their teeth, quickly struck again as Luka Modric burst to the byline and cut the ball back for Ronaldo, lurking at the near post, to lift the ball over Buffon into the far corner of the net.
One of the biggest cheers of the night came with 13 minutes left when Welshman Gareth Bale, only fit enough to be on the bench, replaced Karim Benzema.
Any hope Juve had of a late comeback ended when substitute Juan Cuadrado was sent off after picking up two bookings in the space of 12 minutes – he had only been on the field 17 minutes.
Sergio Ramos, already booked, was lucky to stay on after taking Caudrado out with a sliding tackled. But the Juve player was punished for retaliation, a harmless push in the back.
It didn’t make any difference as Real were in control and they went on to add a fourth goal in the last minute.
Marcelo dribbled his way to the byline and cut the ball back for substitute Marco Asensio to sweep home a low shot from eight yards.
Real, whose second-half display was awesome, won the competition for a 12th time as they extended their record number of victories.
And Real became the first side to successfully defend the trophy since the European Cup became the Champions League in 1992/93.
The fact that Real scored four goals against a Juve side that had conceded only three goals en route to the final, was a measure of their devastating display.