NNBABA | Page 5 RUGBY | Page 6 Durant powers Lions expect a Warriors rout win and much over Cavs in more from fi rst game tour opener Saturday, June 3, 2017 TENNIS Ramadan 8, 1438 AH Nadal merciless as GULF TIMES Djokovic toils at Roland Garros SPORT Page 3 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 9:45PM (QATAR TIME) Juventus bar Zidane’s path to history with Real A beaten fi nalist in 2003 and 2015, the sharpest attack, Juve boast its meanest de- Zidane can become first manager to win back-to-back Champions 39-year-old Italy great dreams of adding the fence, having successively shut down the spar- ultimate club honour to the World Cup win- kling attacks of Barcelona and Monaco en route League titles as competition’s sharpest attack and its meanest ner’s medal he collected in 2006. to Cardiff . “For the past three or four months, Real Ma- Beneath a closed roof at the Principality Sta- defence collide in a classic contest in Cardiff today drid have been playing top-level football,” Buf- dium — a fi rst for a Champions League fi nal — a fon said. classic contest beckons. AFP ning successive fi nals) and we’re the fi rst to be With 10 goals to his name, he needs one “But we’re also in top form and that’s enough London so close to doing it for so many years. But we more to equal Messi’s tally in this season’s for me.” HEAD-TO-HEAD haven’t won anything yet.” competition and become a Champions League To prevail, Juve must shed their status of Juventus Draw Real Madrid Victorious against city rivals Atletico Ma- top scorer for the fi fth season running. perennial Champions League bridesmaids, 8 2 8 nly Zinedine Zidane’s former club drid in the 2014 and 2016 fi nals, Real are chas- “The team is in a sweet spot and we have to having fi nished runners-up on a record six oc- Juventus stand between the Real ing a third success in four seasons. take advantage of that,” Ronaldo told Real Ma- casions and lost their last four fi nals. FORM GUIDE (across all competitions) Madrid coach and football history It would allow them to proclaim European drid TV this week. Italian champions for the sixth year running Juventus WWWLW in today’s star-studded Champions dominance with a conviction they last pos- “We really wanted to win La Liga and that and Coppa Italia winners, the Turin giants are Real Madrid WWWLW OLeague fi nal in Cardiff . sessed during Alfredo Di Stefano’s fi ve con- has taken a lot of pressure off us. Now we have also aiming to become only the eighth club to A head coach for only 17 months, the former secutive wins of the late 1950s. a unique opportunity to be the fi rst team to win complete the European Treble. Juventus will become the ninth European France playmaker can become the fi rst manag- Zidane, 44, has already led his team to glo- (the Champions League) on two consecutive They were pursuing the same milestone in side to record a treble if they beat Madrid, er to win back-to-back European Cups in the ry in La Liga, ending a fi ve-year league title occasions.” 2015, when they lost 3-1 to Barcelona in Berlin, having already won the Coppa Italia and Serie post-1992 Champions League era. drought, as well as the Club World Cup and but coach Massimiliano Allegri says his street- A this season. Zidane had a hand in Madrid’s ninth, 10th European Super Cup. ‘EYE OF THE STORM’ wise side are now ready to take the fi nal step. The Italians are seeking to become the and 11th European triumphs — as a player, as- Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, can claim a The fi nal could prove a glorious homecoming “There’s more conviction. Since Berlin, first team to lift the trophy unbeaten since sistant coach and head coach — and the quest fourth European crown, which would only en- for Madrid’s Cardiff native Gareth Bale, al- we’ve grown a lot — everyone — and that’s re- Manchester United in 2008. for the ‘Duodecima’ (12th) brings him up hance his chances of matching fi erce rival Li- though the Wales star is expected to start on assuring,” he said. This year’s Champions League saw 375 againstg an old fl ame. onel Messi’s haul of fi ve Ballon d’Or successes. the bench due to a calf injury. “We’re in the eye of the storm now and we’re goals scored in 124 games, with an average of “I pplayedlayed at JJuventusuventus foforr fi ve yyearsearss aandnd II’ve’’ve ThThee 32332-year-old-yyeeaar-olo d PoPortugueseortr ugueese hhasas eexplodedxpx looded WWhWhileile ZiZidane,dane, Ronaldo and Bale hope their happy to be here. 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Real Madrid Juventus coach coach Massimiliano Zinedine Allegri Zidane Key duels duels in today’s fi nal RONALDO v BONUCCI Real Madrid’s RAMOS v HIGUAIN MARCELO v ALVES MODRIC v PJANIC Ronaldo has never been fitter, fresher or in better Cristiano Higuain faces his old side hoping to dispel his Similar in style and personality, these two With so much attacking talent on both sides, form at the end of a season as he is now. He has Ronaldo reputation as a big game bottler and justify Brazilian full-backs will bomb forward at every op- Modric and Pjanic will be tasked with providing scored 14 goals in his last nine appearances, Juventus’s 90mn euro splash. A poor return on portunity to try and expose the other’s defensive the ammunition as the creative hubs in midfield. including hat-tricks against Bayern Munich and the Champions League stages was what led to Hi- shortcomings. No active player has beaten Ma- After a slow start to the season, Pjanic has Atletico Madrid in the quarter and semi-finals guain being sold by Madrid to Napoli in 2013. And drid more than Alves’s 22 victories during his time ensured Paul Pogba hasn’t been missed in Turin respectively. However, he is now faced with the he missed big chances to cost Argentina dear in with Barcelona and Sevilla. At 34, he has been despite Juventus receiving a world record fee meanest defence in the tournament led by one the finals of the 2014 World Cup, and the 2015 and reborn, scoring a sensational volley and providing for the Frenchman. Casemiro’s presence at the of the world’s best in Bonucci. Along with Giorgio 2016 Copa America. Ramos, by contrast, is the Juventus’s other three goals in their semi-final win base of the midfield gives Modric more freedom Chiellini and Gianluigi Buff on, Bonucci kept man for the big occasion. He is the only defender over Monaco. Marcelo’s supreme energy levels to roam forward and with the likes of Isco, Ro- Barca’s Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar to have scored in two Champions League finals allow him to often cover the whole left wing to naldo and Karim Benzema to aim for, Juventus scoreless over 180 minutes in the quarter-finals. having netted against Atletico in 2014 and 2016. himself as Ronaldo drifts inside. can’t aff ord to give the Croatian any space. Gulf Times 2 Saturday, June 3, 2017 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOCUS Bouhaddi earns Lyon women’s Champions League Catalonia TV ad’s Juve Buff on eyes support stirs Spain anger AFP fi nal ‘fairytale’ Madrid public TV channel in Spain’s Catalonia region, where a sepa- ratist movement is raging, has drawn criticism for broadcast- Aing an ad supporting Juventus, the Ital- ian team facing Real Madrid in today’s with Juventus Champions League fi nal. Goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi scored the win- The television spot announcing the ning spot-kick as Lyon retained the women’s ‘I’ve got back more than I gave. It would be the perfect finale’ fi nal in Cardiff opens on footage of the Champions League against domestic rivals Paris white-clad players of Real Madrid — Saint-Germain in Cardiff on Thursday. Moments AFP arch-rivals of Barcelona in Catalonia — after PSG’s own shot stopper Katarzyna Kie- Cardiff , United Kingdom lifting the trophy of a previous edition. drzynek had scuff ed her eff ort wide, Bouhaddi “There are only 11 men capable of avoid- stepped up to seal a fourth Champions League ing the unavoidable,” a voice-over says, as triumph for Lyon. After a goalless 120 minutes, eteran Juventus goal- images of Juventus players appear. the game went into a penalty shoot-out for the keeper Gianluigi “Eleven men prepared to change des- second year in a row and once again, Lyon held Buff on says today’s tiny and infl ict a nightmare evening on their nerve.