Champions League Final 2016/17 - Juventus vs Real Madrid Statistical Preview

General Stats

• Real Madrid and Juventus have made the joint most appearances in a Champions League final with six alongside Italian side A.C. Milan.

• If Real Madrid beat Juventus, it will continue Spain’s recent dominance in the Champions League, as it would be the fourth straight success for La Liga clubs. However, the most dominant streak is during the European Cup era when English teams won every competition between 1977 and 1982 (six in total).
• This will be the fourth time that a Spanish and Italian club have gone head-to-head in a Champions League era final. The current score in terms of winners is Spain 2 Italy 1.
• Barcelona ran out 3-1 winners against Juventus in 2015, Real Madrid were 1-0 winners against Juventus in 1998, while A.C. Milan prevailed 4-0 against Barcelona in 1994.
• Should James Rodriguez make an appearance for Real Madrid, he will become the first ever Colombian to appear in a European Cup or Champions League final, but the accolade may well have to be shared with Juventus’ Juan Cuadrado.
• If Medhi Benatia makes an appearance for Juventus, he will become the first Moroccan to play in a Champions League final, although fellow countryman Hajry Redouane played for Benfica in the 1988 European Cup final.
• We could see a first Venezuelan make an appearance in either a European Cup or Champions League final. That honour could well be bestowed to Juventus midfielder Thomas Rincon; he has made three tournament appearances so far this season, but number four would no doubt carry some extra importance for the 29-year-old.
• 73.9% of the teams that have scored first in the Champions League final have gone on to win the competition (17 out of 23 finals this has happened, with the other ending without a goal).

• In terms of goals conceded in this season's edition of the competition, then you only have to look at Juventus as the standard bearers in terms of shutting out opposition attack lines. Gianluigi Buffon has only seen the ball go past him three times.
• The same cannot be said for Kaylor Navas, who has been much more charitable. The Costa Rican international has conceded 16 goals on the road to Cardiff.

• In terms of ever-presents in this season's competition, both Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have played in all 12 matches before the final, while Juventus’ best representation comes with a band of five players making 11 competition appearances this season. Those being Gianluigi Buffon, Dani Alves, Miralem Pjanic, Juan Cuadrado and Gonzalo Higuain.
• Real Madrid have kept clean sheets in two of their five Champions League appearances (1998: 1-0 win over Juventus, 2000: 3-0 win over Valencia), while Juventus have failed to shut out the opposition in all but one of their five Champions League final appearances.
• This will be the first time in which a European Cup or Champions League final has been held in Wales. There are two Welsh players who have played in a Champions League final - those being Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale. Gareth Bale has a race against fitness to play on home soil, but should he be declared fit then he could make his third appearance in a final, one short of the Welsh record set by Giggs.
• 144 Spanish players have played in either a European Cup or Champions League final, with the most appearances coming from Francisco Gento, who played in eight finals.
• 146 Italian players have played in either a European Cup or Champions League final, with the most appearances coming from Paolo Maldini, who has played in six finals.
• 17 Spanish players have scored in either a European Cup or Champions League final, with the highest scorer being Alfredo Di Stefano with seven goals.
• 10 Italian players have scored in either a European Cup or Champions League final, with the highest scorer being Sandro Mazzola with three goals.
  

Real Madrid Stats

• Real Madrid could be the first side to win the competition in successive years during the Champions League era.
• If they do go on to win the final, it would be a 12^th victory in total and sixth Champions League success.
• They have a particularly big omen on their side – that being that they have won all five of the previous Champions League finals.
• The most ever goals ever in a final across both the European Cup and the Champions League era is the outstanding 10 goals scored between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden Park in 1960. The score-line would see Real Madrid go on to win 7-3 in what would be the last in their five in a row European Cup victories.

• Zinedine Zidane has already won a Champions League trophy after masterminding Los Blancos to a win over their cross city rivals Atletico last season. After taking over from Rafa Benitez earlier in the campaign, he joins a very esteemed list of men who have won the competition as both a player and a manager. The others are Miguel Munoz, Giovani Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Carol Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard and Josep Guardiola.

• Real Madrid are just one goal short of scoring their 500th in Champions League history.

Juventus Stats

• Juventus have the unfortunate record of losing the most Champions League finals with four, and they are the bridesmaid when you add in European Cup defeats as well. In total, they have been on the losing side on six different occasions.
• Juventus make their second final appearance in three seasons, with 2015 not being a memorable final for the Old Lady as they lost 3-1 to Barcelona. It is 21 years since their last success at this level, when they beat Ajax back in 1996.
• Since then, they have lost in their last four Champions League final appearances and this is not the first time these two sides have gone head-to-head in a final, with Real Madrid getting the better of Juventus back in 1998 when Predrag Mijatovic scored the only goal of the game.

Cristiano Ronaldo Stats

• Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a phenomenal 103 goals in the Champions League and 88 of them have been scored for current club Real Madrid. 13 of those 103 have been scored against Italian opposition, with Juventus being on the receiving end of five of them.
• Gianluigi Buffon has been the name charged with putting a stop to Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is he who has been beaten five times.
• Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in two previous finals – those being the 2008 final for Manchester United against Chelsea and the 2014 final for Real Madrid against their neighbours Atletico.
• Of the 103 goals that Cristiano Ronaldo has scored, 80 of them have come from open play, while 12 have come from outside the area as a result of a free-kick. 11 have come from the penalty spot.
• From those 103 goals, he has used his towering frame to good effect on 18 occasions, as he has jumped head-and-shoulders above the rest to add to his ever-growing tally of Champions League goals.
• A nice round 100 of the 103 have been scored in regulation time (90 minutes). 46 goals were scored in the first half and 54 in the second half.
• Higuain is Juventus’ top marksmen in this season competition with five goals, but has been dwarfed by Cristiano Ronaldo who has scored 10. The Portuguese superstar is just one goal behind the 11 scored by Lionel Messi in this season's competition.