Make mine a treble: Barcelona & Juventus set for showdown in Berlin

London, Paris, Rome... Berlin? Barcelona have a habit of claiming Champions Leagues in Europe's biggest cities and on Saturday, the Catalan club seek their fifth European Cup crown. Juventus, however, have other ideas.

There was a party mood in the German capital on Friday as the city filled up with fans from the two teams. Many had caught several flights, some trains, others arrived in buses or by car, with one Juventus supporter walking all the way from Turin and documenting his journey on social media.

For the die-hard supporters, it is an occasion not to be missed. Yet not all of them are here - and Gerard Pique said he valued the support of those who could not make it as he spoke to the media on the eve of the match. "Not all of them could come," he said. "But we feel their warmth and thank them for their support."

And he added: "We have a fantastic team - one of the best in the history of the club."

That is undoubtedly true and on Saturday, Barca can become the first team to win a treble of league, cup and Champions League trophies twice - having already achieved the feat under Pep Guardiola in 2008-09.

But Juventus chase a treble themselves and it is perhaps they who will have happier memories of Berlin, after Italy won the World Cup by beating France on penalties at the Olympiastadion in 2006.

Both Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Pirlo were in the Italy team that day and the midfielder, who scored the first penalty in the shootout success for the Azzurri, wrote in his autobiography: "I spent the afternoon of Sunday, 9 July, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup."

Barca pair Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano will have less fond memories of the stadium. The two were part of the Argentina team beaten on penalties by Germany at the venue in the 2006 quarter-finals, when coach Jose Pekerman inexplicably left the forward on the bench for the entire 120 minutes.

There is no chance of that happening in this one and Luis Enrique said on Friday: "We have Leo, who is the best player in the world."

And the Barca boss, who scored his side's only goal in the Catalans' last match in the German capital (a 1-1 draw against Hertha Berlin in 1999) added on Friday: "The whole football world expects a spectacular match. The team are where we want to be: with two titles won and the chance to make history again."

En route to the final, Barca beat last season's champions of England (Manchester City), France (Paris Saint-Germain) and Germany (Bayern Munich) and will now look to add Serie A winners Juventus to that impressive list of scalps as they chase a fourth Champions League crown in nine years.

Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri admitted his side are second favourites in the Saturday showdown, despite knocking out Real Madrid in the semi-finals. But he said: "Like all teams, Barcelona have faults and they have weaknesses.

"We will have to concentrate for 90 minutes. We will need to be mentally strong because we are second favourites."