Spain CT Vicente Del Bosque admits he thought Real Madrid would knock out Juventus but they ‘deserved to reach the final’.
The Bianconeri take on Barcelona on Saturday in the Champions League final, and the former Madrid Coach gave his take on the game to Gazzetta dello Sport.
“From a Spanish point of view, I’d have liked to have seen a Clasico final between Barça and Madrid,” Del Bosque told the newspaper.
Spain CT Vicente Del Bosque admits he thought Real Madrid would knock out Juventus but they ‘deserved to reach the final’.
The Bianconeri take on Barcelona on Saturday in the Champions League final, and the former Madrid Coach gave his take on the game to Gazzetta dello Sport.
“From a Spanish point of view, I’d have liked to have seen a Clasico final between Barça and Madrid,” Del Bosque told the newspaper.
“Having said that, Juventus very much deserved to reach the final, and the fact that both finalists are aiming for the treble is a measure of this great match between two teams which are different in style, but united by greatness.
“Juventus? They’re a team which in particular is very well organised, very efficient.
“I think in [Giorgio] Chiellini, [Patrice] Evra, [Andrea] Pirlo, [Claudio] Marchisio and [Carlos] Tevez they have skilled players who are capable of handling the game, and understand the different phases of the game.
“They’re a team which knows how to defend well, and can hurt you in attack with Tevez and [Alvaro] Morata.
“Juventus winning the League was never in doubt, but that dominance didn’t come along by chance. No-one gives you anything for free in Italy.”
Despite this, the World Cup winner admits he thought the Old Lady were dead and buried after going down 1-0 in the Bernabeu in the semi-final second leg.
“Honestly, when Real Madrid took the lead I thought the tie was over, they had everything in their favour.
“But football can surprise you, and, to their credit, Juve didn’t lose their heads, they scored through Morata and defended well against the Madrid pressure.
“The strength of Juventus, their ability to stay strong, calm and decisive, even in times of great difficulty like at the Bernabeu really struck me.
“[Coach Max] Allegri’s is a real team, a squad which is not only experienced, but also ambitious.
“They’re players who have one a lot, but they’re not content, they want more, and that shows great professionalism.”
Much of the build-up has focused on Barcelona’s ‘MSN’ front-three – Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar – and Del Bosque agrees that the Catalans are better stocked in attack.
“On paper at least, it seems Barça have greater attacking potential than Juventus, at least individually,” he considered.
“In football, we’re living in the age of Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo, and the Argentine plays for Barcelona. He decides games.
“Barcelona’s attack seems better than Juve’s.”