Luis Enrique Transformed Barcelona From Within | Grantland
As Barcelona look like heavy favorites to become the first European club to complete a second treble in Saturday’s Champions League final against Juventus, it would appear that they’ve finally found their next Pep. Luis Enrique played for the club from 1996 to 2004, often alongside Guardiola. He even took over Barcelona B when Guardiola became manager of the first team. Barca is in Enrique’s blood, and he arrived at Camp Nou looking like the picture of a tiki-taka purist. But once they let him inside, out came a dose of long balls, super-quick counterattacks, and even some practical defending.
Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta confident of fitness for Champions League final | ESPN
“I had some discomfort and nothing else,” Iniesta said. “Not playing on Saturday has not passed through my head at all. I hope to be ready to play and help team to win the Champions League, which we all want, to end a very special season.”
How Barcelona reached the final | UEFA.com
Unsung hero? Options would include Sergio Busquets and Gerard Piqué, both now consistently playing their best football for four years. But the winner is Luis Enrique, who could emulate Josep Guardiola in winning a treble in his first season. It took fans, media, and some players, a few months to come to terms with the Asturian’s rotations and experimentations in the first half of the season but he has been proven correct by Barcelona’s form in 2015.
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Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar – are they the greatest strike-force ever seen? | Telegraph
The superlatives have built quickly through the course of this season but at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin next Saturday evening the world could be witnessing, in the grandest occasion in club football, the greatest strike-force the game has ever seen. Barcelona’s ‘MSN’ – Messi, Suárez, Neymar – are poised to take on the formidable ruggedness of Juventus, with an indomitable defence led by the uncompromising Giorgio Chiellini, in the Champions League final only adds to the sense of occasion.
How can Juventus try and shut down Barcelona’s right wing? | Black and White
When Juventus take on Barcelona in the Champions League final on Saturday, you can expect a terrific battle of wits as the Catalan offensive firepower gets aligned against the Bianconeridefensive mettle. There will be multiple sub-plots all over the pitch, but it’s the clash between Juve’s left and Barca’s right that we break down here.
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