Macdara Ferris reports from Munich
On Saturday against Inter Milan in Munich, Qatari owned Paris Saint-Germain have the chance to win their first ever European Cup and become the second new name on the trophy in three years along with Abu Dhabi owned Manchester City who beat Inter in the final in Istanbul in 2023 .
A Qatar Airways press release this week trumpets what they call an ‘historic sponsorship treble at the UEFA Champions League Final’ with the airline the official sponsor of both finalists and of the competition itself – ‘a rare and remarkable achievement’.
Of more interest may be the historic treble that Romanian referee István Kovács will achieve on Saturday in Germany.
Having officiated in the inaugural Conference League final in 2022 when Roma beat Feyenoord, and in Atalanta's Europa League success in Dublin last year, the 40-year-old match official is set to become the first referee to take charge of the final of each of UEFA's current major club competitions.
But maybe we should get on to talking about the actual football…
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
This is the fifth time that Munich will host the final and on each of the four previous occasions there has been a first-time winner. A good omen then for the French side whose only ever appearance in the European Cup Final was in the behind-closed-doors Champions League final in Lisbon in 2020 when they lost to Bayern Munich.
Incredibly this is the first time that PSG have taken on Inter in competitive action and is only the second ever final between a French and Italian team.
France’s only winners of the competition came from that Franco-Italian final in Munich when Marseille beat Internazionale’s city rivals AC Milan in the 1993 final in the Olympiastadion.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, PSG boss Luis Enrique said: “The motivation for me is to win the Champions League for the first time with Paris. I want this as a gift for the team, for the club, for the city. Doing something historic, like winning for the first time with such a great club, would give it an extra special flavour."
He would become the seventh manager to win the trophy with different teams having led Barcelona to European glory in the 2015 final that was also held in Germany. He lifted the 735mm tall 7.5kg trophy in Berlin’s Olympiastadion when his team defeated Juventus.
Reflecting on the challenge of breaking down Inter, he said: “My team knows how to unpick teams like this and how to get that tight-knit defence to unravel. Inter have a lot of high-class players both up front and at the back; that's why they've got to the final."
Domestically, PSG continued to dominate French football. They won Ligue 1 at a canter - finishing 19 points clear at the top (winning 26 of their 34 games and losing just twice) – and defeated Reims 3-0 in the French Cup final at Stade de France to make it back-to-back doubles.
In Europe, they finished 15th in the league phase of the Champions League, with one of their eight games in the new look format taking place in Munich where they lost 1-0 to Bayern in matchday five.
They beat Brest 10-0 on aggregate in the knockout phase playoff before their route to the final ran right through the Premier League.
They defeated three successive English clubs – Liverpool in the round of 16 (0-1 h, 1-0 a aet, 4-1 pens), Aston Villa in the quarter-finals (3-1 h, 2-3 a) and an Arsenal side containing former Republic of Ireland international Declan Rice in the semi-finals (1-0 a, 2-1 h).
This is a much more likeable PSG side than previous seasons. Gone are the preening premadonnas of Kylian Mbappe and, in particular, Neymar Junior. Instead, their attacking lineup has a cracking front three of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and the resurgent, reinvented Ousmane Dembélé.
The French striker has scored an incredible 33 goals in all competitions this season when his previous best was 14 with Barcelona in 2018/19. With his long running fitness issues behind him, he has 25 goals in his last 28 appearances for Paris.
Nobody else could beat his 21 Ligue 1 goals as he picked up the player of the year award as voted on by the players.
“Dembélé has been one of the best players this season,” said Enrique. “He scores, he provides assists, he leads the way. It’s so nice to be able to help him develop.”
The striker himself spoke on the eve of the game in the Munich Arena saying “We’ll have to control our emotions, there’s loads of excitement around this Champions League final. But we have to control them. We have to approach it calmly, but also with a smile.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve been dreaming of playing in this game. We have to remain concentrated on the game, on the team, on myself. I hope we'll be able to produce a fantastic performance.”
INTERNAZIONALE MILANO
It is Inter’s second final in three years but the four-time European Champions – two in the Champions League era – haven’t won the trophy since 2010 (beating Bayern Munich in the final). That was the last time that an Italian side won the trophy – Juventus have lost the final twice since then (2015 and 2017).
Simone Inzaghi’s side ran Manchester City close in the Istanbul final of 2023 losing 1-0 and this time around they have had to come through several European heavyweights to make the final.
Possible redemption awaits them in Munich at the culmination of an incredible Champions League campaign. Theyfinished fourth in the league phase – conceding remarkably just one solitary goal in eight games - and avoided the knockout phase playoff round that PSG needed to negotiate.
They beat Feyenoord (2-0 a, 2-1 h) in the last 16, Bayern München (2-1 a, 2-2 h) at the quarter-final stage and then Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate in a semi-final for the ages.
The Nerazzurri missed out on the Serie A title by just a point. They did what they needed to do in the final game of the league campaign – winning 2-0 at Torino but Napoli also won to pip Inter for the title by a point – the second time in four seasons that Inzagh’s side have lost title on the final day of the season by just one point.
"These players in these four years did a lot: won a lot and lost sometimes – it happens,” said Inzaghi speaking at the pre-match press conference.
“But we all gave our all, everyone. We are proud to be Inter. I dreamt of playing the Champions League final; I didn't do it as a player, but thanks to this group of players, it's the second in three years as a coach."
A lot of pressure will rest on Inter’s captain Lautaro Martínez who has won it all with his national team – winning the World Cup with Argentina in 2022 and two Copa América’s – and has two Serie A titles. However, he has been on the losing side in two major European finals with Inter – the 2023 Champions League final and the Europa League final in 2020.
His nine goals so far in this European campaign have equalled Hernán Crespo's club record set in the 2002/03 Champions League competition.
"I've won big trophies, but I'm missing the Champions League,” said Martínez on the eve of the game in Munich. “I'm happy to be in another final. We want to have the perfect game and bring the trophy back to Milan.
"I've scored many goals in this competition this season, playing in important games. I try to improve constantly. I am happy to be here and to play another final."
There is an intriguing goalkeeper clash on Saturday with Yann Summer in the Inter goal and Gianluigi Donnarumma the opposition number one. Inter’s goalkeeper coach is Gianluca Spinelli. He is also the Italian national team goalkeeper coach working with Donnarumma having previously done that job with PSG.
The two goalkeepers came head-to-head in Germany last summer when Switzerland knocked Italy out of EURO 2024 in the round of 16. In the build up to that game Sommer admitted that Donnarumma is a player that he likes to keep tabs on.
“He is a top class goalkeeper with great reflexes,” said the 36-year-old keeper. “I’ve played against him in the past in a number of matches during his time at Paris Saint-Germain. has a great bit of experience having started at a very young age in the first team. Milan. He is a goalkeeper I like to watch.”
Referee: István Kovács (Romania)
MATCH STATS
Victory would take Inter on to four European Cups, level with Ajax and behind Real Madrid (15), Milan (seven), Bayern and Liverpool (both six) and Barcelona (five). They are currently on three – having played in six finals (winning in 1964, 1965 and 2010) and losing in 1967 (to Celtic), 1972 (Ajax) and most recently to Manchester City two years ago.
It looks like the top scorers in this season’s Champions League will be Barcelona striker Raphinha and Borussia Dortmun’s Serhou Guirassy. Both have 13 goals, two ahead of Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski. Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez has nine goals equalling Hernán Crespo's club record set in the 2002/03 Champions League campaign.
Three of the four previous European Cup finals held in Munich took place in the Olympiastadion – the 1979 win for Nottingham Forest over Malmo, that Marseilles win over AC Milan in 1993 and Borussai Dortnmund’s 3-1 win over Juventus in 1997. The last final played in Munich was in the Munich Arena when Chelsea won the trophy after defeating Bayern in their home stadium 4-3 on penalties after the game ended 1-1 after extra-time.
The Allianz Arena, with its unbranded name of the Munich Football Arena for the final, has a 64,500 capacity.
PREDICTION
2-1 win for PSG
Paris Saint-Germain
Possible: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; João Neves, Vitinha, Fabián Ruiz; Kvaratskhelia, Dembélé, Barcola.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Internazionale
Possible: Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Çalhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martínez, Thuram.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Bisseck, Pavard, Zieliński
Suspended: None