Fernando recalls playing for Juve in Champions League final

“Amazing moments, amazing memories.” That’s how Fernando Llorente looks back on his two-year spell at Juventus as we travel to face his former club in the UEFA Champions League.

Joining the Italian giants from Athletic Bilbao in 2013, Fernando won two Serie A titles during his tenure and also lifted the Coppa Italia in 2015 before appearing in the Champions League final against Barcelona that same year, in what would be one of his last games for the club.

Chasing the treble, the striker was introduced in place of Alvaro Morata with five minutes of normal time remaining and his side trailing 2-1 in Germany.

Sadly for the Spanish international, Barca grabbed a third goal in stoppage time to secure club football’s biggest prize but, for Fernando, the memories of that fantastic Champions League adventure remain fresh in his mind.

“It was an unbelievable journey,” he told us. “We arrived at the final of the Champions League after beating Real Madrid in the semi-finals. The final was close and at one moment we were 1-1 with possibilities to score.

“It was difficult because Barcelona at that moment with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez were an amazing team. We couldn’t finish with the victory but it was still a good moment for us.

“Juventus are one of the biggest clubs in the world and to play there was amazing. I lived there, I experienced amazing moments, amazing memories and now I’m very happy to have the chance to go back to Turin. I still have a lot of friends there and it will be good to see them.”

Above: Fernando speaks to Xavi Hernandez of Barcelona prior to the 2015 Champions League final.

Fate would have it that Fernando played and scored against Juve in the Champions League for Sevilla, just six months after representing the Italians in the 2015 final.

Having returned to Spain that year, shortly after winning a second Italian Super Cup following an initial triumph in 2013, he wasn’t involved in the early stages of Sevilla’s European campaign but, on matchday six in December, 2015, started and scored the only goal as Sevilla beat Juve 1-0 at home. It wasn’t enough to see the La Liga side through to the knockout stages, but they would go on to win the Europa League at the end of that campaign instead.

Now, the 32-year-old crosses paths with ‘The Old Lady’ in the Champions League once more as we prepare for the first leg of our round of 16 tie in Turin on Tuesday night.

“I’m very excited about this draw,” added Fernando, who scored 27 goals in 92 games for Juve.

“I had good numbers, I think. It’s not easy to score in Serie A. They defend well, they have good tactics and normally play with five defenders, so it’s not easy to play against them. They are a very good team with very, very good players. Training against (Giorgio) Chiellini every day, it was difficult but you also learn a lot and they are amazing professionals, amazing guys away from the pitch.

“It will be an amazing game for us but it’s now the knockouts and it’s open, 50-50. We have possibilities if we play well but we will have to play at our best and not make mistakes. We can be confident in ourselves because we are a very good team, focused, concentrated, aggressive and we can do amazing things.”

Champions League finalists in two of the last three years, Fernando believes there’s a determination from our opponents to go all the way this time around.

“It’s the one competition left for (Gianluigi) Buffon,” he explained, referring to their talismanic goalkeeper and captain, who has won multiple cups at club level and was part of Italy’s World Cup-winning side of 2006, but has never tasted Champions League glory.

“Juventus would love to win this competition. It means a lot to them. I think they are very focused in the Champions League, very focused to play against us and we will see how it goes.

“Their home has changed name, now it’s Allianz Stadium, but it’s very beautiful and the atmosphere is very good. We’ll see. I enjoyed my two years in Turin a lot and I’m happy to go back there with Spurs.”