Sadly for Juventus, the club holds the unpleasant record for the most defeats in Champions League finals. The miserable 2017 outing in Cardiff was only the latest of the seven losses suffered by the Old Lady in the grand European finales.

The Bianconeri were hellbent on ending their long drought when they clashed heads with Real Madrid in the Welsh capital. Cristiano Ronaldo broke the deadlock for Los Merengues, but Mario Mandzukic pulled off a stunning equalizer before halftime.

But after the interval, Max Allegri’s men were almost unrecognizable, as the Spaniards ran riot against the hollow Italians. It ended 4-1 in favor of Zinedine Zidane’s men.

For his part, former Juventus midfielder Mario Lemina entered the pitch in the final minutes for Paulo Dybala in an obviously desperate attempt from Allegri to salvage a result.

The French midfielder feels that players like Ronaldo can make all the difference on such occasions.

“Those were two best teams in Europe at that time facing each other,” said the current Wolverhampton player in his appearance with Colin Interview YouTube channel via JuventusNews24.

“They were incredible, but we were ready. We were strong mentally and physically, but there are elements like Cristiano Ronaldo that make the difference.

“We made a show of strength, courage and self-sacrifice, to show everyone that we had to be the team to beat Real at that moment.

“But With Casemiro’s goal, the match became complicated. However, we still believed in it until the red card.

“I don’t know what Sergio Ramos did, but he got Cuadrado out of the match, I don’t know what happened but I only see the red card and it became impossible from there.”

Lemina joined Juventus from Marseille in 2015. The Champions League final in 2017 turned out to be his last match for the club, as he completed a transfer to Southampton in the following summer.