Major finals can often be damp squibs, but certainly Saturday's European Cup final between Barcelona and Juventus was nothing of the sort as both sides played out an exciting match.
While Barcelona deserved victory, most people would agree that at times Juventus did give the Catalans a run for their money.
It's a point Off The Ball's European football correspondent Graham Hunter concurs with as he said tonight: "I thought for sure that the goal Juventus scored had been coming. Barcelona had been okay, they had been about B+ and they hadn't been anywhere near the flame-on, white heat of January/February performances. I thought as well that Juventus were winning many battles and they had sniffs of success in their nostrils. They may have been technically the lesser side slightly and certainly didn't dispute possession fantastically well. But if you look back at the on-target chances, they're relatively even."
In terms of the dynastic aspects of Barcelona's victory, seven players spanned the four Champions League titles in the last decade, prompting comparisons between Luis Enrique's current iteration and the one which peaked so beautifully under Pep Guardiola.
(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
"If you were to compare and contrast, then the unifying factor is the fact that the team want the ball and know what to do with it. If you go back to 2008-09, that was a side with incredible guts. They were the Juventus of that final in 2009 in Rome and they were missing players all over the place - no Alves, no Marquez and no Abidal and neither Henry or Iniesta fit - and yet they won comfortably. What we can say about 2009 is that it had extraordinary fighting character," said Graham.
"Then 2011, when you had the football community speak, in my lifetime and professional career, I've never ever seen a game draw such gushing praise from the very best of all eras - from Just Fontaine to Beckenbauer, Lippi, Hitzfeld, Souness, Strachan and Gary Neville ... just about everybody who was writing or broadcasting on 2011 said 'they were the best I've ever seen'. So where does this one rate? The best you can say is that there is a continuity of technique, daring, drills and throughout it Messi has emerged. It's my strong heartfelt impression that we're talking about pound for pound the best player ever"."
However, off the pitch, Graham also gave his take on the changes in philosophy for a club which bills itself as Mes Que Un Club, as well as the credit Johan Cruyff deserves for sparking a 25 year period which has yielded five European Cup/Champions League and countless other trophies.
