• All of Barca’s outfield players were involved in a breathtaking move which saw Rakitic score in the fourth minute
• From the left, Neymar found Iniesta in the box, the Spaniard unselfishly squared it and Rakitic finished with aplomb
• With Barcelona playing football from another planet, Juve levelled from nowhere through Alvaro Morata in the 55th minute
• Marchisio’s clever backheel set Lichtsteiner free; the Swiss crossed for Tevez who saw his shot saved by Ter Stegen
• But there was Morata, who had scored in both legs of the semi-final against Real Madrid, and the Spaniard slotted home 
• Luis Suarez restored Barca’s lead 13 minutes later by finishing off a counter-attack by pouncing on a loose ball
• Messi broke from the half-way line, Juventus backed off and the Argentine’s shot was parried by Buffon into his path
• Neymar had a goal ruled out, the ball bouncing off his head then his hand and into the net
• But the Brazilian found the net with the last kick of the game to make it five European Cup wins for Barcelona
• Xavi came on for Iniesta for his final appearance for the club and lifted the Champions League trophy for the fourth time

By

Oliver Holt For The Mail On Sunday

Published:
20:49 GMT, 6 June 2015

|
Updated:
01:42 GMT, 7 June 2015

Twelve minutes from the end of an enthralling, unrelenting Champions League final, two Barcelona legends stood on the touchline and embraced. Andres Iniesta jogged to the touchline, took off the captain’s armband and wrapped it meticulously around the upper arm of Xavi, his replacement. Then Iniesta shoved Xavi out into battle for one last time.

Barcelona’s fans, massed in the giant curve behind the goal to the right, let out a great roar. They understood this moment of symbolism better than anybody. The best team of our generation was saying goodbye to one era and ushering in another in the same instant.

Xavi, their heart and soul through the magical Pep Guardiola years, will leave for Al Sadd in Qatar in the summer and others will follow him away from the Nou Camp. But the greatness will live on. Barcelona proved that. This is a new team now, a team still capable of breathtaking football that can make your heart sing but a team that can be tough and pragmatic, too. A team who know how to win.

Of course, they were beautiful to watch here in the Olympic Stadium as they beat Juventus 3-1 to win their fifth European Cup, joining Bayern Munich and Liverpool in the number of their triumphs. But this was a game they won with guts as well as guile. Juventus made sure of that. 

Following his last outing in the competition, Xavi hoists the European Cup aloft for the fourth time to end his unparalleled Barcelona career

Lionel Messi beams after another virtuoso performance in a Champions League final put Barca on course for a richly-deserved victory

The unstoppable attacking trio of Luis Suarez, Messi and Neymar took their combined tally to a staggering 122 goals this season

Gerard Pique, himself a three-time winner of the competition, lifts the famous trophy in front of his jubilant team-mates

The ticker tape rains down in Berlin as Barcelona celebrate their fifth European crown after a magnificent performance against Juventus

Neymar is the centre of attention following the game’s conclusion after the brilliant Brazilian completed the scoring in the Olympic Stadium

Suarez hit the second, finishing off a quickfire counter-attack to put Barca on the way to their first win in the competition since 2011

Suarez reacted quickest to the loose ball after Gianluigi Buffon parried Messi’s shot, with the striker adjusting his body and sidefooting home

Suarez celebrated wildly as the Uruguayan striker ended a dramatic first season with the Catalan club in memorable fashion

Barcelona players flock to Ivan Rakitic after the Croatian schemer finished off a sweeping, incisive move to give the Catalans an early lead 

The helpless Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba can only watch as Rakitic’s well-placed effort beats the outstretched Buffon

Rakitic, man of the match in last year’s Europa League final while with Sevilla, further strengthened his reputation as a big game player

Neymar added gloss to the result, scoring with the last kick of the game to complete Barcelona’s fourth conquest of Europe in a decade

The Brazilian was magnificent throughout the match and celebrated his first Champions League victory following the final whistle

Marc-Andre ter Stegen lies helpless after parrying Carlos Tevez’s shot into the path of Alvaro Morata, who prepares to pounce 

Pique, Carlos Tevez, Dani Alves, Jordi Alba , Pirlo and Rakitic watch open-mouthed as the Spanish striker hits the net to level the score

Morata, who scored against Real Madrid in both legs of the semi-final, continued his hot streak with the equaliser ten minutes after the break

Rakitic is grabbed by a jubilant Neymar after handing Barca an early lead to light the touchpaper on a thrilling Champions League final

Rakitic, Neymar, Andres Iniesta and Messi celebrate the opening goal on a magical night for the Catalans in the German capital

Rakitic is mobbed by a flying Dani Alves, and grabbed by an exuberant Neymar and a roaring Sergio Busquets after giving Barca an early lead

Barcelona players form a huddle in the corner of the pitch after seizing an early lead in a thrilling Champions League final 

Luis Enrique throws his arms into the air after completing the treble in a remarkable first season as head coach with the Catalan club

It was a great tribute to Barcelona that they won their fourth Champions League trophy in a decade without Lionel Messi at his best. For once, this game was not about him, even though he had a hand in Barcelona’s first two goals. By his own exalted standards, the Argentine genius had a quiet night. This was a victory for team spirit as well as brilliance.

This was about Iniesta, the man of the match, who set up the first goal for Ivan Rakitic with a piece of typical unselfish skill. This was about Luis Suarez, who scored Barcelona’s second and ran himself into the ground. It was about Neymar, who scored Barcelona’s third with the last kick of the match, taking the total of goals scored by him, Messi and Suarez this season to 122. MSN, they call them in Catalonia.

And, of course, it was about Xavi, the midfield maestro who has underpinned so much of Barcelona’s success. The honour of lifting the trophy was given to him and so keen was he not to let go of the match ball, his final memento, that he shoved it up his shirt so he could have both hands free. Pregnant with joy.

So now the new era has begun. Forget any period of transition and the problems the team were wrestling with early in the season when there was discontent over the coaching of Luis Enrique and people speculated that Messi might even be sold. That’s history. Barcelona, winners of this trophy in 2006, 2009 and 2011, are ready to rule again.

This was probably the hardest won of their last four victories. Juventus, it is said, are a team who do not let you play well and they knew that, if they were to have any chance of lifting the trophy, they had to try to impose their very own Berlin Blockade on the greatest attacking trio in club football.

They had to do it without Giorgio Chiellini, the most redoubtable of their clutch of formidable defenders, who was injured in the build-up to the match. And they had to do it even as the world was still marvelling at Messi’s wonder-goal in the Copa del Rey final last weekend.

‘I only give Juventus a small chance of success,’ Gianluca Vialli, who captained the side the last time they won the trophy in 1996, said the day before the game, ‘but if anyone can upset the apple-cart with Barcelona, it is an Italian team.’ 

Barcelona’s opener was a goal of beauty, with every outfield player involved in a move which pulled Juventus hither and thither

A tearful Pirlo applauds the Juventus supporters after a gut-wrenching defeat for the serial Italian champions

UEFA president Michel Platini hands out the losers’ medals to the Italians, who proved more than worthy adversaries for Barcelona

Barcelona form a guard of honour for Juventus as Arturo Vidal somehow manages to find a smile after disappointing end to the season

Neymar flashed a shot just wide of Buffon’s left-hand post when the Brazilian really should have hit the target

Juve were indebted to Buffon in the 13th minute, with the 37-year-old shifting his balance to make a world-class save to stop Dani Alves’ shot

Messi attracts plenty of attention as the Argentine maestro torments his opponents with his trickery and close control

Juventus were incensed after seeing this Jordi Alba tackle on Paul Pogba at the edge of the box go unpunished by referee Cuneyt Cakir

Incensed players from Juventus surround Cakir following the incident, but Alba’s tackle went unpunished by the Turkish official

Dani Alves and Pogba grapple but keep their eyes on the ball with the pair contesting a fascinating duel throughout the game

Tevez attempts to elude Sergio Busquets as the Argentine striker looks to find a Juventus shirt

As it was, the apple-cart stayed defiantly upright. Juventus pressed Barcelona strongly in the first three minutes and caused Javier Mascherano some discomfort but what the fourth minute brought was different. The first time Barcelona broke the shackles, they scored.

What a goal it was, too. Messi drove an inch-perfect crossfield pass to Jordi Alba. Alba laid it back to Neymar, who fed it in to Iniesta. Some players would have tried to score themselves but Iniesta is way too good to have done that. He dragged the ball into the path of Rakitic instead and the Croatian passed the ball into the empty net.

The game had started with a verse of poetry. Juventus and Arturo Vidal tried to drown it out with some industrial tackling that brought the midfielder an early yellow card but Barcelona were not deterred. Only a brilliant one-handed save by Gianluigi Buffon from Dani Alves’s shot stopped Barcelona doubling their lead before 15 minutes had elapsed.

Barcelona were beautiful, all flicks and unselfish runs and weighted passes and clever angles. When they had the ball, Juventus struggled to look anything other than utterly bewildered. But they did not give up. In fact, they dragged themselves back into the game.

Led by the indefatigable running of Paul Pogba and Carlos Tevez, they began to make incursions of their own in the Barcelona box. Alvaro Morata curled a shot wide and, midway through the half, after they had harried Barcelona out of possession, Claudio Marchisio unleashed a piledriver from 25 yards that whistled over Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s bar.

With a match ball tucked into his T-shirt, Xavi is hoisted on the shoulders of Rakitic and Iniesta as he prepares to say farewell to Barcelona

To rapturous applause, Iniesta made way for Xavi in the 78th minute, handing over the captain’s armband to his close friend

Time stands still as the slippery Suarez attempts to wrongfoot 34-year-old Andrea Barzagli in the Juventus penalty area

Vidal (right) was booked early in the first half and was fortunate to remain on the pitch after losing his head in a wayward spell

Suarez shows his close control as the Uruguayan avoids the attentions of Stephan Lichtsteiner and prompts another Barca attack

Luis Enrique gives Javier Mascherano instructions during a  frantic opening to the game which saw the Argentine slip several times

Ahead of his fifth Champions League final, Patrice Evra shook hands with Suarez as the pair added another chapter to their infamous rivalry

Messi was starting to stir. He had seemed almost semi-detached until then, walking his way through some of the game as if he was toying with Juventus, letting others take them apart. Now he began to hint at a greater role.

But 10 minutes after half-time, Juventus stunned Barcelona. Marchisio produced a perfect backheel into the path of Stephane Lichtsteiner and even though his cross went behind Tevez, the Argentine swivelled and shot and Ter Stegen could only push the ball into the path of Morata, who slid it home.

Barcelona were rattled. The Juventus fans increased the volume and their team pressed forward. Tevez lifted a good chance over the bar, Pogba fizzed a dipping shot into Ter Stegen’s midriff. 

Barcelona’s second was more direct, with Rakitic feeding Messi, who darted forward. His shot was parried by Buffon and Suarez did the rest

Neymar completed the scoring, adding a third deep into injury-time after a quick one-two with substitute Pedro

Morata made it 1-1, showing a striker’s instinct to prod home with goal gaping. Check out more stats from our Match Zone here

Pogba protested bitterly when he claimed to have been wrestled to the ground in the Barcelona box but the referee waved play on and that was the reprieve Barcelona needed. Messi surged forward, skipped a tackle on the edge of the box and fired in a low shot that bounced just in front of Buffon. Even Buffon could not deal with it. He parried it and Suarez pounced, lifting it high into the net.

Neymar, who had had a goal ruled out for handball, made amends with the last kick of the game when he rifled a shot past Buffon to put the game finally out of the reach of Juventus.

Forget the power of Bayern Munich and the monied might of Real Madrid. Barcelona are back, ready to rule again.

Barcelona’s supporters celebrate at Canaletas Square after their side’s victory in Berlin

The club’s fans poured out into the streets of the Catalan city after the final whistle 

Barcelona supporters let off flares as Juventus were soundly beaten at the Olympic Stadium

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