BARCELONA won their fifth European Cup on Saturday night, pulling even with Bayern Munich and Liverpool, two behind AC Milan and halfway to the total reached by their eternal rivals, Real Madrid.

But there is little question that this is the club which perhaps more than any other has defined the modern era of mulit-channel television, globalised football and social media stars. In the last 11 years they have won seven league titles and now four Champions' League crowns. To put it in context, the 44 years before that had produced just eight Liga titles and one Champions' League.

A final with remarkably open spaces and two teams going blow-for-blow yielded a 3-1 scoreline. It could have been more. A little more for Juventus, a lot more for Barca. The Spanish champions confirmed what some suspected, that if you go for the jugular and break quickly you can find some joy against them, because the price of that front trio - and two of the most attacking full-backs in the world game - is a midfield that could often use more help. Of course, the flipside is that going for it means leaving a blank canvas for Messi and the other virtuosos, which is what happened on the night.

Juventus coach Max Allegri is more laid back than his counterpart, Luis Enrique. Still, you imagine the weeks before the final were filled with thoughts of little Argentine men coming his way, dancing in from the right flank towards the middle and wreaking havoc.

The pre-game debate had been about how to stop him, without making yourself vulnerable to the rest of Barca's arsenal. The early plan, clearly, was to press the life out of Barca and, for three minutes, it actually worked rather well. The Catalans insistence on playing out from the back was exploited as first Mascherano and then Sergio Busquets yielded Juve two very early opportunities.

But the answer was immediate and devastating. And in some ways metaphorical. Yes, it was Messi who got the ball in his favored left flank, but he was merely a cog - a precious one, but still a cog - in a dazzling move that saw all ten of Barcelona's outfield players involved. His precise crossfield ball found Jordi Alba who laid it off for Neymar. The Brazilian paused for a moment, then nudged it to Andres Iniesta, whose sudden movement took away from his marker, Arturo Vidal. A delicate lay off for Ivan Rakitic, a point-blank finish and Barcelona were one-nil up.

Point proven. Messi involved, but not in the way many had expected.

Juve tried to react, but the needle moved decisively Barca's way and they struggled to get out of their own half. Another absurdly accurate Messi crossfield piece of magic was a smidge too far for Neymar. Dani Alves' snap shot was brilliantly saved by Gigi Buffon, body going to the right, left arm reaching out with a strong hand to the left.

This is where Barca could have killed the game. But Juve lived to fight on. Paul Pogba thundered forward on the counter, drawing a last-ditch clearance from Mascherano. Jordi Alba got caught in possession by Alvaro Morata and Claudio Marchisio fired high.

Barca tried to regain their momentum, but Juventus' intensity - which sometimes spilled over into yellow cards, as both Pogba and Vidal were cautioned - slowed them down. It wasn't until the end of the first 45 that we saw two more solid opportunities for the Catalans. A Luis Suarez diagonal that ended just wide and a highlight-reel run by Lionel Messi who saw him beat Andre Pirlo, Patrice Evra and Pogba in quick succession, before being halted by Leo Bonucci.

The Catalans could have doubled their lead just after the break. Rakitic's gallop on the counter set up Suarez' whose low, hard near-post finish pulled off another Buffon masterpiece. Shortly thereafter, it was Messi-time again: an arcing rainbow of a run from right-to-left, punctuated by one-twos with Neymar and Suarez and capped with a finish that wasn't as good as the build-up. Great to watch, with high-fives all-around at the end.

Tremendous work from Marchisio on the wing set up Tevez. He hammered a finish Marc-Andre ter Stegen could only parry for the onrushing Morata, who tucked it away. Another good Juventus counter a few minutes later saw Tevez smack the ball just over the crossbar.

Enough of a warning to spur Barcelona back into action. Messi finished a sweeping counter with a blistering shot that Buffon deflected at the feet of Suarez, who buried the finish to restore the Catalan lead.

Shortly thereafter, Barcelona thought they had made it three, when Neymar put the ball again past Buffon. Replays showed the Brazilian had headed the ball off his own hand and the referee, at the behest of the official behind the goal, disallowed it. So much for those who suggest those guys don't do anything.

Juve pushed on. Pogba powered a header over the bar. Marchisio, ever the battler, uncorked an insidious shot that ter Stegen pawed away. The danger was there, but Barcelona weren't going to batten down the hatches to protect the lead. In fact, all it did was expose them to the counter, which, fatally came at the end of extra-time, courtesy of Neymar.

And when the final whistle ended proceedings, you had the feeling that the better team had won. Not just the better team on the night, but the best team in the world. At least during the 2014-15 season.