Why Carlos Tevez Is the Juventus Player Barcelona Must Stop in Champions League

Saturday’s Champions League final will see Juventus face Barcelona’s star-studded lineup, and the Bianconeri will likely find that containing the newly crowned La Liga champions is an immensely difficult task. Working in almost perfect unison with Lionel Messi, the additions of Luis Suarez and Neymar have served to make the Catalan giants even more dangerous.

The Bianconeri have proved to be hugely impressive defensively, however, keeping three clean sheets in six knockout games thus far. Conceding just four goals in those games, they have repeatedly subdued opponents and will look to do so once again when they take on Luis Enrique’s men in Berlin.

Yet they are also acutely aware of the need not to curb their own attacking instincts, and Juve will certainly need to push forward themselves when the opportunity arises.

Speaking to Isport Blesk last week, club director Pavel Nedved reinforced the need for the Turin giants to ask questions of the Barcelona defence, telling them (h/t Football Italia): "Barcelona have a great attack but we defend well and not only that, we want to create problems for their back line. What we mustn’t do is be passive and hand Barca the initiative. They are used to playing in that situation. We must be careful, otherwise it won’t end well."

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In order to do so, Massimiliano Allegri will rely upon the quality of Carlos Tevez, a player who has been simply sensational since joining Juventus almost two years ago. In 95 games for the club, he has netted an astonishing 50 goals, ending the league campaign only a single goal behind Serie A's leading scorers Luca Toni and Mauro Icardi.

Tevez has been equally decisive in the Champions League, notching seven times in 12 appearances, including some key performances in the knockout stages. Having opened the scoring in Juve’s 2-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund, he would deliver arguably his finest display of the season in the return encounter.

Scoring twice—and creating a third for Alvaro Morata—it was the Argentinian striker who inspired a memorable victory, setting the tone for the Bianconeri both with and without the ball. His work rate is not only essential to Juve’s defensive effort, but it also sparks their own attacking efforts, which has been essential to their success this term.

It is often said that Allegri’s side have played on the counter-attack this term, but that is somewhat misleading. Thanks to the standard set by Tevez—one the likes of Roberto Pereyra, Paul Pogba and Morata have quickly picked up on—they transition quickly and catch opponents by surprise.

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There may only be a fine nuance between the two, but it is an important difference to note if Barcelona are to subdue the Bianconeri. It all starts with the man wearing the club’s No. 10 shirt, hounding defenders and deep-lying midfielders constantly and forcing mistakes, which he is then the ideal man to capitalise upon.

The man himself is under no illusions of the size of the task ahead, discussing the prospect of facing the Catalan giants with Sport Mediaset last week. “I think Barcelona are the best team in the world,” the 31-year-old told them (h/t Football Italia).

“They have the three best strikers so we’ll have to work hard to give a performance which is more than perfect.” Luckily for Juventus, Tevez is capable of delivering such a display, and it will be up to Barcelona to find a way to stop him doing so when this encounter gets underway.

With 29 goals and eight assists to his name in 44 appearances this term, that is no easy task, and the likes of Gerard Pique and fellow Argentinian Javier Mascherano will also need to be at their very best in order to subdue Juve’s key man.