Madrid, June 3 (IANS) Spanish giants FC Barcelona’s coach Luis Enrique has said the chance of winning a domestic and European treble was the main motivation for his side ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final against Italian champions Juventus.
Last weekend saw the La Liga champions add King’s Cup to their trophy haul with a 3-1 win at home over Athletic Club Bilbao and a win in Berlin on Saturday would complete a historic season, reports Xinhua.
“More than winning the Champions League is the chance of winning the treble for a second time which excites us most,” said Luis Enrique in his press conference in the club’s press day ahead of the final.
However, Juventus are also looking for a treble after winning the Serie A and the Italian Cup and they knocked Spanish club Real Madrid out in the semi-finals.
“They are a team we have known about for a long time. They have had an exceptional season,” said the Barcelona coach, who pointed out Juventus had “won the league with ease, although they had more problems in the Cup.”
“Everything about them worries me; they have a clear starting 11 with a lot of class and they have improved the way they play the ball out from the back. Alvaro Morata has given them extra power and quality and Carlos Tevez is their player with most quality, but we will try and make sure we don’t see their strengths,” he commented.
Enrique gave his recipe for success, which varies a little from the game plan his side have followed all season.
“We are going to try and have the ball as much as possible and look for spaces at time in the game, but we are going to try and have the ball and to pressure them, to be well balanced and well positioned,” he explained.
The game will see the re-encounter between Barcelona’s Uruguyan striker Luis Suarez and Juventus’ Italian defender Georgio Chiellini, a year after the former’s bite at the Italian defender earned him a four-month ban from football.
Enrique said that incident “was part of the past.”
