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- 1. Spotlight SSAANNDDEEEEPP MMEENNOONN DECCAN CHRONICLE B arcelona are on the brink of a treble. With the La Liga title almost in their kitty as well as entering the final of the Spanish Cup and the Uefa Champions League, the Catalan giants are well on their way to yet another historic season. Barcelona are by no means new to all the plaudits and admiration that has been coming their way as they have rewritten footballs age old tactics with their high pressing and possession based football over the years. The terms false nine and tiki-taka all part of foot- balls lexicon have come from the Spanish side. Even as the season draws to a conclusion presum- ably a silver laden one for the side there are still question marks over the defensive prowess of the side. While there is no argument about the clean sheets that they have kept over the course of the season, Bayern Munich in their ultimately unsuccessful attempt to make it to the final of the Champions League showed exactly where the weakness of the side lies. High balls and direct runs. As a team, the La Liga champions elect are set up to defend from the front. Pressing from the front line, never allowing the opponents to settle and thereby forcing mistakes while crunching the playing area with defenders pushing up the field, has been their hallmark to trap the opposition offside. But when it comes to the crux of it, as a defensive unit, the defenders leave a lot to be desired. With Gerard Pique who seems ever so much more com- fortable with the ball than without it having fallen short of his previous performance levels, Javier Mascherano a midfielder turned defender has often been called upon to cover his partner. The attacking mindset of Dani Alves and Jordi Alba which more often than not pays dividends only adds to their defensive worries. As Bayern showed during their win at Munich, high balls and lofted crosses are a major problem for the defence. With most of their backline on the shorter side and Pique unable to position himself correctly to get to the ball, Robert Lewandowski and Mehdi Benatia were more than happy to go for the header. The German side also troubled the defenders as they forced them to backpedal with Thomas Muller and Lewandowski choosing a direct approach and run at the defence. While the brilliance of their front three Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar lovingly called MSN can get them out of almost any problems with their panache, finishing ability and unparalleled skills, Barca need to tackle the defensive woes before next season. With the inconsistent Jeremy Mathieu and ever- injured Thomas Vermaelen yet to add stalwart value to their side following their summer moves, the Blaugarana will need to make sure that they get a tough-tackling defender in the same mould as Carlos Puyol to shore up their base if they aim to dominate in the forthcoming seasons. BARCA NEED TO LOOK AT THE FULL PICTURETT..NN.. RRAAGGHHUU DECCAN CHRONICLE A fter suffering a 5-0 aggregate pasting at the hands of Bayern Munich in the quarter-final of the Champions League in 2013, Juventus manager Antonio Conte had said an Italian club wouldnt be able to win the blue ribbon event of Europe in the near future. Conte wasnt wrong because Serie A was in dol- drums then. Things havent improved dramatically in Italian top flight because Milan giants, AC and Inter, are in the throes of mediocrity on the field and uncertainty off it. Conte left Juventus last season to become the Azzurri coach, partly frustrated by the lack of funds that was available for him to build a squad that was capa- ble of winning the Champions League. Juventus, who have just sealed their fourth Serie A title in succession and whose finances arent as bad as the top Milan clubs, are a match away from proving Conte wrong. The Old Lady of Turin have set up a Champions League final with Barcelona after dumping holders Real Madrid out of the tournament with a 3-2 aggregate win. Juventus are on the verge of offering a flicker of hope to Serie A. Juve forward Alvaro Morata came back to haunt his former club, Real Madrid, by finding the net in both the legs of the compelling semi-final. The sadness of missing out on El Clasico at the summit of Europe is fast giving way to a potentially cracking contest between two teams that are brimming with talent, old and new. Both Barca and Juventus are chasing a treble and a win at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on June 6 could be the icing on the cake in an outstanding season. The contrasting casts of the two finalists are hard to miss. While Barcelona have an attacking trident that appears to have been assembled in footballing paradise the squad of Juventus is full of oldies who are in the twilight of their careers and a couple of youngsters who were cast away by their former clubs as surplus to requirement. Goalkeeper Gianluigui Buffon and midfield enforcer Andrea Pirlo have the gnarling looks of being con- temporaries of dinosaurs but they are as integral to Juves success this sea- son as Morata and dynamic midfielder Paul Pogba, who was offloaded from Manchester United by a man whose eye for talent was unmatched in his heyday: Alex Ferguson. Even Juves spearhead in attack, Carlos Tevez, didnt come to Italy in a blaze of glory. The highest goal-scorer in Serie A this season didnt even make the Argentine World Cup squad last year. Tevez would be eager to make Lionel Messis team suffer in Berlins historic stadium where the Italians won their fourth World Cup nine years ago. Another intriguing sub-plot will be the meeting of Barca forward Luis Suarez and Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini. Suarez was banned for four months for biting Chiellini in a World Cup group match last year. The Uruguayan would also come face to face with Juve full-back Patrice Evra who he had racially abused during his Liverpool tenure. There is still time to break ones head over the Champions League final. The moment is ripe to celebrate the renaissance of Italian football. ITALIAN RENAISSANCEBoth Barca and Juventus are chasing a treble and a win at the Olympic Stadium could be the icing on the cake Luis Enrique Alvaro Morata Arturo Vidal 37SATURDAY 16 MAY 2015 Chennai Chronicle football