The treble at just 23 years of age: Germany international Marc-André ter Stegen has won the Champions League Final with FC Barcelona at Berlin’s Olympiastadion and has been crowned European Champion. Barca triumphed 3-1 in the final of the tournament against Juventus, topping off a perfect season following the league and domestic cup double.
Ter Stegen, who moved to Spain from Borussia Mönchengladbach last summer, lifts the Champions League trophy in his first season of the competition and will now travel to the U21 European Championships in Czech Republic (17th – 30th June) full of confidence.
Ter Stegen: "It’s simply amazing"
“It’s simply amazing that we’ve won it! We played superb football and earned it as a team,” said ter Stegen, who will travel to the U21 European Championships in Czech Republic shortly – as a Champions League Winner! Suárez also said it was a “well-deserved award”.
Former Schalke man Ivan Rakitic, Suárez and Neymar clinched Barcelona’s second treble in the club’s history with their goals. Barca last achieved the feat under current Bayern manager Pep Guardiola in 2009.
Former Gladbach keeper ter Stegen put in a good display in the most important game of his life to date. The 23-year-old pushed out Carlos Tevez’s hot-to-handle shot but was left helpless to prevent Álvaro Morata netting the rebound to make it 1-1. Ter Stegen becomes the first German shot-stopper to be crowned European Cup Winner for 17 years (Bodo Illgner with Real Madrid).
Messi writes history
The solid Messi didn’t disappoint, writing history. Together with Andrés Iniesta, Gerard Piqué and Xavi, the Argentine drew level with record holder Clarence Seedorf with his fourth Champions League title.
Juventus could not produce anything to show for their efforts despite improving midway through the first half. The loss to Barca was their sixth defeat in their eighth European Cup Final. No club has been defeated more often in the final.
Dream start for Barca
The match, watched by around 400 million people around the world, began perfectly for Barcelona. Former Schalke man Rakitic dispatched the ball into the empty net after lovely link-up play from Neymar and Andres Iniesta. 80 metres down the other end of the pitch, ter Stegen extended his arms and let out a scream of joy.
The treble at just 23 years of age: Germany international Marc-André ter Stegen has won the Champions League Final with FC Barcelona at Berlin’s Olympiastadion and has been crowned European Champion. Barca triumphed 3-1 in the final of the tournament against Juventus, topping off a perfect season following the league and domestic cup double.
Ter Stegen, who moved to Spain from Borussia Mönchengladbach last summer, lifts the Champions League trophy in his first season of the competition and will now travel to the U21 European Championships in Czech Republic (17th – 30th June) full of confidence.
Ter Stegen: "It’s simply amazing"
“It’s simply amazing that we’ve won it! We played superb football and earned it as a team,” said ter Stegen, who will travel to the U21 European Championships in Czech Republic shortly – as a Champions League Winner! Suárez also said it was a “well-deserved award”.
Former Schalke man Ivan Rakitic, Suárez and Neymar clinched Barcelona’s second treble in the club’s history with their goals. Barca last achieved the feat under current Bayern manager Pep Guardiola in 2009.
Former Gladbach keeper ter Stegen put in a good display in the most important game of his life to date. The 23-year-old pushed out Carlos Tevez’s hot-to-handle shot but was left helpless to prevent Álvaro Morata netting the rebound to make it 1-1. Ter Stegen becomes the first German shot-stopper to be crowned European Cup Winner for 17 years (Bodo Illgner with Real Madrid).
Messi writes history
The solid Messi didn’t disappoint, writing history. Together with Andrés Iniesta, Gerard Piqué and Xavi, the Argentine drew level with record holder Clarence Seedorf with his fourth Champions League title.
Juventus could not produce anything to show for their efforts despite improving midway through the first half. The loss to Barca was their sixth defeat in their eighth European Cup Final. No club has been defeated more often in the final.
Dream start for Barca
The match, watched by around 400 million people around the world, began perfectly for Barcelona. Former Schalke man Rakitic dispatched the ball into the empty net after lovely link-up play from Neymar and Andres Iniesta. 80 metres down the other end of the pitch, ter Stegen extended his arms and let out a scream of joy.
Juve tried to fight their way back into the game but Arturo Vidal overstepped the mark with his aggressiveness, with the Chilean receiving the first booking of the game following a foul on Sergio Busquets. Vidal was in danger of a red card as early as the 15th minute after another foul on Neymar.
Barcelona remained unfazed by the Italian’s roughness and created chance after chance, despite Messi not yet firing on all cylinders. Juve keeper Gianluigi Buffon then kept his side in the game with a series of impressive saves. The Turin-based club were able to free themselves from Barca pressure halfway through the first half, but the better chances still fell to the Catalans. Frontman Suárez squandered three chances in the space of five minutes alone.
Juve began the game with the second-oldest starting XI in the Champions League Final history (average of 30 years and 153 days). Buffon, Andrea Pirlo and Andrea Barzagli all started, three players, who lifted the World Cup trophy at the Olympiastadion in 2006 with Italy. Barzagli came into the heart of the Juve defence at the expensed of the injured Giorgio Chiellini.
Juve come alive after equaliser
Suárez could have settled the tie almost immediately after the restart, but the 80 million Euro new signing’s effort was off target. The highlight of the MSN striking trio arrived three minutes later, scoring 121 goals between them this season: Messi to Neymar, who played it back to Messi, one-two with Suárez – but Messi’s shot went narrowly over the bar.
Juve’s equaliser came as a surprise and altered the game. The Italians were looking more venomous and livelier, with the 30,000 Juventus fans taking command of the stands. Barcelona weren’t stunned for long though, and came back more powerful. Buffon parried a low shot from Messi – Suárez pounced – 2-1 Barca.
Xavi was subbed on in the 78th minute amidst mass applause from the Barcelona fans, taking the captain’s armband with him. It was the 151st Champions League appearance for the 2010 World Cup Winner – and his final in the newly-crowned treble winners.
