There's an old saying in football: 'You don't play well in finals; you win them'. May's Champions League showdown at San Siro was a perfect case in point. Real Madrid were the victors - yet there is no way that they could lay claim to being the best team in Europe.
Atletico beat two better sides in the last eight and the semis. Real weren't even the better side on the night. They are the least impressive winners of the Champions League since Chelsea in 2012.
To some sensitive souls, that might sound like the kind of bitterness propagated by 
Despite that, they found a way to win. Just as they had two years ago against the same situation. Also, this was their 11th European Cup triumph as a club. Madrid know how to win and, as Ronaldo shrewdly pointed out afterwards: "Our team showed more experience and we showed it by scoring all the penalties."
Experience and belief count for a lot when it comes to conquering Europe, which is precisely why Juventus have signed a serial winner in Alves from Barcelona.
The Bianconeri could hardly be accused of lacking winners. Several members of their squad have won five successive Scudetti, as well as back-to-back doubles. However, they have fallen short in Europe for the past two seasons.
However, as former Juve striker Gianluca Vialli told Goal: "They deservedly got to the final [two seasons ago] and they only lost to an unbeatable Barcelona side. This year, they went out to Bayern Munich but they were 30 seconds from knocking them out. So, I think that they are there or thereabouts, alongside the rest of the top clubs in Europe."
Indeed, it was difficult not to look at the final and suspect that the Bianconeri would have beaten Real; just as they did in the semis a year prior. Consequently, Juve's summer transfer strategy is about quality rather than quantity. Their primary concern is on recruiting players capable of taking that one final step towards Champions League glory. They want winners.
And while Juve are intent on adding even more experience to their ranks, they also wanted Miralem Pjanic's precision passing and set-piece skills. The former Roma ace struck 10 times in Serie A last season - on four occasions from free-kicks - and created 12 goals. He represents an ideal addition to a Juve midfield still coming to terms with the loss of Andrea Pirlo, whose presence provided poise and dead-ball deliveries of the highest order.
As Cristiano Ronaldo's Madrid underlined in May, composure and experience are precious commodities in the modern game. In signing Pjanic, and now Alves, Juve are acquiring a healthy mix of both. - Goal