Juve have now lost five consecutive finals since last becoming European champions in 1996, including two defeats in three years following defeat against Barcelona two years ago.

They made a good start in Cardiff, controlling the early stages and going into the interval at one apiece thanks to a brilliant equalising strike from Mario Mandzukic.

But the Italian champions simply had no answer for Madrid in the second half, struggling to establish any meaningful possession and facing a constant flow of pressure which eventually saw Madrid run away with a comfortable victory.

It was a strangely lacklustre second half display from Juve, whose frustration was compounded by substitute Juan Cuadrado becoming the first substitute to be sent off in a Champions League Final after he foolishly clashed with Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos after already being shown a yellow card.

Nobody was more disappointed than veteran goalkeeper and captain Gigi Buffon, who knows that his chances of adding a Champions League title to his dazzling collection of silverware may now have passed him by.

The 39 year-old accepted that his team ended up well beaten, admitting: “We are disappointed.

“We played very well in the first half, and we thought we had enough to win the game. But I cannot explain why we played like we did in the second half.

“Real Madrid deserved to win in the second half. They showed their class and the attitude needed to play in the kind of game.”