Barcelona defeat Juventus, win historic Champions League title

BERLIN --

There are times when Barcelona relies on casual brilliance to pick apart the opposition and win matches. This gripping UEFA Champions League final demanded more than just than the collective to subdue Juventus once and for all. This occasion required that extra moment of brilliance.

Once again, Lionel Messi provided it.

Messi prompted Luis Suarez’s winner with a determined, enterprising run to quell the willing Italian champions and secure a fifth European title with a 3-1 victory at Olympiastadion.

"We couldn't have asked for more. To have won three titles and to end the campaign lifting the Champions League is incredible," clup captain Andres Iniesta told TVE after the match. "It's very difficult to win three titles in any given season and to have done it again is spectacular. Both teams had their chances.

"It would have calmed us down to have scored one more goal in the first half but nevertheless we got it done. To have won the treble twice in six years is something that will be very difficult for a team to repeat. It's an incredible achievement for everyone, the players, for Barca and for our fans."

Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring after just four minutes by capping off one of those compelling sequences with a neat finish. Juventus survived the forthcoming onslaught and summoned a tidy sequence of its own to equalize through Alvaro Morata after the break.

Suarez tucked home the remnants of Messi’s darting run and rasping drive after 68 minutes secure the victory. Neymar rounded off the night with a deserved third in second-half stoppage time to wrap this compelling final in style.

The entire night reflected the very best of both sides with Barcelona hitting top stride at points and Juventus summoning its resolve at others to underscore its own will. The back-and-forth proved engaging to the very last minute, but the Spanish giants deservedly completed their treble in the end.

The early misstep by Javier Mascherano inside his defensive half obscured the fury and menace set to follow. Barcelona opened the match with intent and tempo going forward and used all of its wiles to procure the opener after just four minutes.

Each step of the move ticked one of the customary boxes. The protracted spell in possession created the foundation. Messi kicked things into motion with a sumptuous diagonal to allow Jordi Alba and Neymar to torment Stephan Lichtsteiner. Andres Iniesta made his opportunistic run into the channel created by all the movement and received an inch-perfect square from Neymar to expose Juventus inside its own area. Rakitic wrapped up this deadly, precise incision by arriving at the perfect time and sweeping home.

Rakitic’s opener issued a foreboding warning for Juventus as Barcelona cranked through their gears and tried to place the game out of reach. These were desperate times for the Italian champions with last-ditch tackles flying -- most of them from the overcommitted Arturo Vidal -- and remedial measures taken at every turn.

Nervy moments inevitably ensued. Lichtsteiner eluded a penalty call far too harsh for this occasion after a cross hit his hand. Neymar sliced inside and shot over the bar. Jordi Alba thrashed a corner over the bar. Gianluigi Buffon summoned a save for the ages to deny Dani Alves to underscore his enduring class. Each successive chance increased the peril, yet Juventus survived long enough to gain a foothold in the game as Barcelona inevitably dropped its tempo and strung passes together instead.

The reprieve allowed the pressure to dissipate without permitting Juventus much latitude to push forward. Barcelona’s dominion in possession forced Juventus to chase and harry. All of the defensive application hardly left Juventus in much of a position to burst forward on the counter, though Paul Pogba sprang into the play once only to see Javier Mascherano cut out his threatening cross on the break.

Juventus’ lack of incisiveness closed off many of the desired routes to goal with Alvaro Morata and Carlos Tevez both starved of service. There were the expected shots from distance, while Pogba protested bitterly as he tumbled under a modest challenge on the outside of the penalty area. It spoke volumes that the most potent threat from Juventus arrived through Claudio Marchisio’s effort straight at Marc-Andre ter Stegen on the stroke of halftime.

Barcelona increased the tempo when play resumed in a bid to settle matters. Suarez forced Buffon to block at his near post with an audacious poke before more tidy work in combination produced yet another chance. The cadence of the match benefited Barcelona in those early stages, right up until Juventus cobbled together its best chance of the game and took it.

The artistry and the fluidity of the move matched the magnitude of the game with Marchisio kicking off the move with a sublime back heel and then surging into the penalty area to pick out Tevez in a promising area. Tevez fired low and hard to ter Stegen’s left, but the German goalkeeper reacted well to block. The rebound spilled kindly to the back post for the unmarked Morata to slot home and spark wild celebrations among the black and white.

Juventus teemed with belief and intent in the wake of the equalizer as Barcelona staggered. Tevez flashed over the bar from the edge of the penalty area in a bid to claim a rather unexpected lead. The run of play -- for the first time all night -- favored Juventus right up until the moment Messi exerted his unparalleled influence to decide the game after 68 minutes.

From the moment Messi collected in midfield, he strode toward goal with a singular purpose. He surged through an attempted challenge or two as he entered the final third and sized up his options. A quick, little shift of his hips froze his beleaguered, defeated marker and yielded enough space to drive on goal. Buffon did well to block the stinging initial drive, but he could do nothing at all as Suarez reacted quickly to poke home from close range.

Suarez peeled away in delight and pointed to Messi on his way to the corner. The little magician picked his moments to influence the game on this night, but he selected the perfect one to set Barcelona on course for a fifth title.

Juventus threaten to disrupt the procession at only a few points during the denoument. Neymar thought he secured the third when he nodded home four minutes after Suarez’s winner, but he directed his header off his hand and watched the particular Cuneyt Cakir rule it out. Marchisio forced ter Stegen to push his effort around the post.

It did not matter in the end as Juventus huffed and puffed without producing that second sequence necessary to restore parity.

"We tried our best but Barcelona were better than us," Pogba told Sky Sports. "They had something that we didn't have tonight and congratulations to them. When we scored we thought that we could win the game and after they scored the second one, our heads went down, but it was never finished. We tried and tried again but they scored the last one and that was it."

The Old Lady boasted all of the grit and resolve to push Barcelona harder than expected, but, in the end, it did not have Suarez, it did not have Neymar and it did not have Messi.

FOXSports.com's newswire services contributed to this report.