Five players to watch out for in the UEFA Champions League Final

It is that time of the year as the footballing world gears itself for the biggest match of the season, the UEFA Champions League final. This year’s Champions League has seen ups and downs for many a side. A few ups would be Monaco, Juventus and downs would be Barcelona, Manchester City and Paris St. Germain. At Cardiff, it is the Real Madrid side led by the French magician Zidane against the Italian master Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus side i.e the Fat Lady against the Los Blancos. It is a final to look forward to with Juventus’ defense going head to head against Cristiano and co. So here are the five players to watch out for in the UEFA Champions League Final.

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Juventus have made it into the final after their drubbing of AS Monaco in the semi-finals of the tournament while Real Madrid defeated their rivals Atletico Madrid yet again in the knockout stages of the tournament. Who would emerge as the winner? We would have to wait and watch.

The Sportsrush has picked up the five players you can bank on if you pick a fantasy team:

1) Cristiano Ronaldo- Real Madrid

If there was ever a player who you could trust to take your team over the line, it has to be Cristiano Ronaldo. The 32-year-old Portuguese forward has not had the season that he would have hoped for as an individual, although his team finished the season as La Liga Champions in addition to reaching the finals of the Europe’s top competition scoring ten goals in Europe to add to this tally of 30 in the entire season.

In the last four seasons, the Portuguese forward has reached the finals thrice, with two final victories over derby rivals Atletico Madrid, who they beat two times in three years. It was Ronaldo, who completed the comeback in Lisbon and he was at hand to hit the winning penalty in last year’s final. It is almost but sure that Ronaldo is going to breathe fire come this final.

2) Gianluigi Buffon- Juventus

There are not many goalkeepers in the world who could turn the match with just their saves. Iker Casillas has done with Spain/ Real Madrid, and Buffon continues to do with Italy and Juventus. What is even more staggering to see is that the 39-year-old Italian has never won a UCL title in this entire career. Is this perhaps the right time to win?

The goalkeeper, before this encounter, did not concede a goal in over 600 minutes of European action, a momentous task for a goalkeeper of any standard. If he manages to sneak in another 90 minutes of a goalless encounter, it is almost but sure that the Fat Lady will sing yet again.

About the author

Aakash Sivasubramaniam