13 things we learned as Barcelona were crowned champions of Europe

Barcelona have completed an historic second treble in six years with a 3-1 win over Juventus. But despite scoring early on and dominating the ball for large parts, it wasn’t clear cut for the eventual winners. Here’s what we learned. 1. Barca are the Champions, Champions of Europe (Michael Sohn/AP) Luis Enrique and Barcelona’s season couldn’t have turned around in a more dramatic fashion. The Barca fans and board were calling for Enrique’s head after a poor run of results between November and January, but, three trophies later, they’ll be hoping he doesn’t choose to leave this summer. 2. Lionel Messi doesn’t always have to score (Mike Egerton/EMPICS Sport) Messi dominated the talk leading up to the final, which is only natural when you consider the form he’s been showing this calendar year. He didn’t get on the scoresheet tonight – if he had he’d have been the first player to score in three finals – but the second was as much down to him as it was Luis Suarez. He picked up the ball and set off, before forcing Gigi Buffon into a save which he could only parry into Suarez’s path. He didn’t miss. The brief period of time between a goalkeeper saving a shot, and the rebound being slammed home, is an underrated footballing moment. — Football Clichés (@FootballCliches) June 6, 2015 3. For all the talk of MSN, the rest of this Barca team shouldn’t be overlooked 1 – Ivan Rakitic' goal was the first Barcelona goal from open play without a Messi, Suárez or Neymar goal/assist since February 28. Variety. — OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) June 6, 2015 Xavi, who we’ll get to later, was thought to be leaving last summer after Ivan Rakitic was bought from Sevilla in his position. It turned out to be a fantastic purchase. Obviously, no one can replace Xavi. BUT, Rakitic wasn’t bought to replace Xavi. He’s a very different player. He’s the man that got Barca’s first goal, and the assist from Andres Iniesta meant it was the first goal since February that didn’t involve any of the front three. 4. Some things never change Rakitic's goal #FCBLive #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/YK0hV6d3Ks — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) June 6, 2015 Yep. Every single Barca player touched the ball before their first goal. Since Johan Cruyff took over at the club in the 80s and rewrote their DNA, this is what Barca have strived for. It certainly served them well tonight, whatever further tweaks people may think Enrique has made to it. 5. Gigi Buffon is a living legend Illustration: That Save by Buffon #JuveFCB pic.twitter.com/5DNL5b5EBS — Richard Swarbrick (@RikkiLeaks) June 6, 2015 It could’ve been three or four nil in the first half had it not been for the Italian keeper, who, it must be said, has definitely had better days in Berlin… People were writing him off in a similar vein to Iker Casillas at the beginning of the season, but he’s fully proven that’s not the case. 6. And speaking of legends… (Martin Meissner/AP) Xavi and Barcelona are no more, at least for now. He came on late in the second half in what was his last game for Barcelona, a club where he’s won more than anyone else in history. He’ll be off to Qatar now, but not before we learned that his send off would indeed be perfect. A treble in his final season? That’s a send off fit for a king. 7. Luis Suarez has been vindicated Oh that's why Suarez left Liverpool, to score the winning goal in a champions league final #ChampionsLeagueFinal — James Buckley (@James_Buckley) June 6, 2015 There was probably no one except Liverpool’s fans who didn’t understand why Suarez left, after the season he enjoyed on Merseyside last year. The club might well have been able to repeat their high finish if he’d stayed, but Barcelona called and he couldn’t refuse. He wasn’t allowed to make his debut until October, after last summer’s events, but wow, what a first season. In his first season at Barcelona, he’s won as many trophies as he had in the whole preceding chunk of his career. Worth the move? We think so. And, Liverpool fans, at least you can do this now. Liverpool fans will try to claim this as their 6th European Cup if Suarez scores. — JG (@Artekkers) June 6, 2015 No, seriously. Don’t do that. 8. Javier Mascherano can thank… Alan Pardew… for his massive success of a career Mascherano & Tevez: 2006: Fighting relegation with West Ham 2015: Facing each other in UCL final #ThePardewEffect pic.twitter.com/zNYbMotlc8 — BBC Sporf (@BBCSporf) June 6, 2015 Yeah, we’ll add nothing to that. 9. Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba share a barber Some football seems to have accidentally broken out at the World's Shittest Haircuts final. — Keri (@kerihw) June 6, 2015 It was the Champions League final, but all the talk on social media was about Pogba and Vidal’s hair. It’s like the people tuning into the final don’t watch football any other day of the year or something… But, they do have a point. And Vidal and Pogba’s haircuts make even less sense when you consider they share a dressing room with Andrea Pirlo – the coolest, most stylish man alive. Vidal’s hair was so distressing for people, that even Alan Shearer, a man with no hair, had something to say about it. How can you have a hair cut like that when you're called Vidal!? — Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) June 6, 2015 That was a play on Big Al, obviously… 10. Vidal has a temper Arturo Vidal; someone please "have a word" with him. #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/QJCJsZD6fM — John Bennett (@JohnBennettBBC) June 6, 2015 The Chilean got booked after a few minutes, but didn’t let that faze him. He was still running around sticking his foot in everywhere and doing it seemingly just because he was angry. Maybe he was reading people’s tweets about his hair. 11. Football is sometimes better without commentary Clive: "What are your thoughts on vouchers as a present Andy?" Andy: "I've seen them given, Clive." #UCLfinal — The Media Blog (@TheMediaTweets) June 6, 2015 We know, because that exchange could well have happened during the match. Andy Townsend received a lot of stick, so much so that he was trending above any of the players actually playing in the match, but it gets to a point where you have to say it’s deserved. Sorry Andy, you need to do “bettah”, “fuh me”. 12. The officials behind the goal do actually do something First time the official behind the goal done some work!! — Harpreet Singh (@hsbutoy) June 6, 2015 Neymar won’t be too pleased that they did anything though, seeing as the act was to disallow him a goal for handball. Still, it’s nice to know that they’re not just getting paid to watch a football match the rest of us would have to pay to watch. 13. And finally, Barcelona can’t let Dani Alves leave HEAT MAP: Dani Alves is a defender, right? #UCLFinal pic.twitter.com/PCjJx0i9lq — Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 6, 2015 Why on earth would they? Unless there’s an exciting youth player coming up from La Masia, and it doesn’t seem like there is, there’s no one better than Alves that they could replace him with. Still, it looks like this is the end of the road for Alves and Barca, and at least they went out on a high.

Source: SNAPPA