Star Barcelona forward Neymar thinks that winning the Champions League final against Juventus will be living his childhood dream and praised teammates Messi and Suarez and opponent Buffon.
Barcelona and Juventus are poised to go for the treble this season as both sides go head-to-head in the Champions League final on Saturday night. Whoever wins the match goes home with a treble with both teams having won the respective leagues and league cups.
Brazilian star Neymar will be playing his first Champions League final in only his second season in Europe after joining Barcelona in 2013 from Santos. Though the 23-year olda s first season did not win him any silverware, this season the forward has helped Barcelona secure La Liga and the Copa Del Rey and now he has the chance to win his first ever Champions League final and complete the treble for the Catalans.
Neymar told the pregame news conference that playing in the coveted European competition was something he dreamed of in his childhood and winning the competition is the most important thing.
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“For me to play in this final is a dream, since I was a kid, of six or seven years old,” he said. “Now the moment has come.
“So tomorrow I must do everything tomorrow to come out the winner, with my team. I want to live this dream, which is to win the Champions League.
“This is such a big final, this is the best moment of my career. I hope I can score a goal to help the team. But a goal from Gerard [Pique] would be fine, and winning 1-0. The important is to come out the winner.”
Neymar alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez has been formidable for Barcelona in attack. The South American trio have scored a total of 120 goals between them in all competitions. When questioned about how the front-three managed to be so prolific Neymar cited the off-pitch chemistry between the trio as the reason.
“Leo and Luis are two players of a great level, with a lot of quality,” Neymar said. “The main thing is our friendship, on and off the pitch.
“That is why we get on so well together. I hope tomorrow to end the season with them, coming out happy, after all the work we have done together, with this team, coming out as winners.”
The Barcelona superstar was also full of praise for the opposition goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and hailed the Juventus side claiming that they did not make it to the final on the basis of good luck.
“Buffon is a great goalkeeper in football’s history,” he said. “Since I was a kid I played with him on the Playstation so I am a big fan. I would be very happy to score against him.
“Juventus are a great team,” he said. “They have not arrived in the final by luck. It will be a difficult game, for sure. It is a final, 90 minutes we have to play our own game, at the best possible. And of course we want to win a lot.”