Barcelona vs. Juventus, 2015 Champions League final: Blaugrana the first to complete two trebles

Barcelona has been dominant throughout Champions League play with 10 wins and two losses through 12 games. The star-studded club will be looking for its first UEFA Champions League title since 2011 this Saturday against Juventus at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

The La Liga champions are going off at odds of -185 to win the UEFA Champions League in regulation time at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Juventus would pay +500 on a regulation win, with the game going into extra time paying +325.

A year ago, Barcelona were in an uncomfortable position. They’d finished second in La Liga, but barely resembled the powerhouse side that had dominated in Spain and Europe just a few years earlier. The side as a whole was a step slow, a touch weak. Changes were needed, and luckily for Barcelona, they’re a club with the resources to make lots of changes.

Their biggest signing of the summer was that of Luis Suarez, available for transfer from Liverpool thanks in no small part to another fit of on-pitch misbehavior -- biting an opponent for the third time in his career. He was still mightily expensive despite that, but so far Suarez has lived up to his €81 million price tag, expertly leading the Barcelona line. He’s scored 24 goals in all competitions, including six in the Champions League, and all while keeping himself out of trouble.

These days, pan-European football is a disappointingly sensible business. Okay, so the Europa League’s format looks a bit bloated, and yes, neither of these cup competitions should strictly be calling themselves a “league,” but fundamentally there’s one tournament for the good teams, then another for the not quite as good teams. Two competitions, two set piece finals, two big shiny silver trophies and then a friendly the following autumn. Perfectly comprehensible.

Back in the day, though, things were delightfully chaotic. Perhaps the earliest European tournament was the Challenge Cup, which ran between 1897 and 1911, was open to clubs from across the Hapsburg Empire. Then in 1927 the Mitropa Cup was established, open to teams from a changing cast of countries across Southern, Central and Eastern Europe. It ran until 1992, albeit much diminished in prestige following World War II and the establishment of truly pan-continental competitions.