• Defender ‘has no problem’ with Barcelona striker for Champions League final • Pair to meet in Berlin for first time since World Cup biting incident • Evra will shake Suárez’s hand when Barça face Juventus

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has said that he bears no grudge against Luis Suárez as he prepares for his first meeting with the Barcelona striker since the Uruguayan bit him at the 2014 World Cup.

Chiellini’s Juventus will take on Barcelona in the final in Berlin on 6 June, having knocked out Real Madrid in the semi-final. Barcelona qualified following a comfortable defeat of Bayern Munich.

Suárez was banned for the first 11 games of the season after biting the Italy defender in the World Cup group stage game in Natal.

“It has been a week since we knocked out Real Madrid and people only ask me about Suárez,” he said with a smile as the subject once again came up. “I bear no grudges.

“I have no problem with him. I will mark him the way I did Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, or any other striker, so there’s nothing different about it. The only thing that disappointed me that time was going out of the World Cup.”

“It’s a special game,” he added. “It’s been far too long since we won [the European Cup].”