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Paris Saint-Germain have claimed their first Champions League title in devastating style, tearing apart Inter Milan 5-0 for a record winning margin in a final; a triumph forged by manager Luis Enrique that followed years of failure in the competition.
The Spanish manager, who won the title previously with Barcelona 10 years ago, was hoisted in the Munich air by his gleeful players while the Paris fans unveiled a tifo celebrating Enrique’s daughter Xana, who passed away at the age of nine, in 2019.
It was an emotional end to a clinical night that finally delivered the trophy to a club that had thrown billions into failed bids to claim it.
Paris were ahead in just 12 minutes through Achraf Hakimi, assisted by French teen Desire Doue, who added the next two goals in 20th and 63rd minutes.
Ousmane Dembele sent Khvicha Kvaratskhelia through to seal the result 10 minutes later, and 19-year-old substitute Senny Mayulu completed the rout in the 87th minute, three minutes after arriving on the field.
_[A new era of the UEFA Champions League is here, only on Stan Sport.](https://bit.ly/3AY96IS)_
Paris had suffered early in the new group stage of the Champions League but came alive in the knockouts, eliminating Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal before laying waste to an Inter Milan side that had seen off Barcelona.
The victory comes after the club changed tack under Enrique, moving away from a strategy of signing the world’s biggest stars – such as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – all of whom have departed – and focusing on team building.
“These guys five years ago were in this final and lost to Bayern Munich. And they were the perennial chokers,” said former Socceroo Craig Foster on Stan Sport.
“They were the superstars, the new Galacticos that when the real pressure was on, when they needed to run, when they needed to fight, when they needed to suffer, they always got it wrong.
“And they could not get over that hurdle. And the expenditure. This club was in many ways much more about the marketing and the branding and the selling of shirts around the world.
“They would almost purchase any player who became available without a big enough name because they knew that they could get the brand out rather than actually get the football right. And Enrique came in and did the opposite.
“If you look at this team, you don’t have the global superstar names. You have the exact opposite. And you have an extraordinary group of footballers, particularly that midfield, what they did today.
“It’s really the crowning glory of Luis Enrique’s coaching career, the football that he believed in, to go from a Barcelona, incredible team, winning in 2015, winning the treble, all that he’s done as a player, to come here and post Mbappe, build this, build the best football they’ve ever played, build the youngest team they’ve ever fielded, and to be able to take apart a team that scored seven against Barca and was the best defensive team this season in the Champions League… and it could have been ten.”
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Tony Harper is honoured to be next man in as _The Roar_ editor, having made his debut at the Queensland Times, Ipswich, in 1989 with a column entitled 'That's What I reckon Sport!' Has since worked as a reporter and editor with organisations including Fox Sports, Fairfax, News Corp, AAP, The AP and ACP magazines, covering four Olympics, three FIFA World Cups and WCs in cricket and rugby.