Advertisement

Soccer--Barca beat Juve in classic to claim fifth European crown

BERLIN, June 6 (Reuters) - Barcelona were crowned European champions for the fifth time after beating Juventus 3-1 in a superb Champions League final at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday. Goals from Ivan Rakitic after four minutes, Luis Suarez in the 68th and Brazilian Neymar in stoppage time sealed a treble for the Catalans who also won La Liga and the Spanish King's Cup. Both teams played outstanding, attacking football in one of the great European finals and Juve pushed Barca all the way, briefly cancelling out Rakitic's early strike when Alvaro Morata equalised after 55 minutes. The thrilling final lifted football's spirits following the revelations in the recent FIFA corruption scandal. (Reporting by Mike Collett, editing by Tony Jimenez)