The Champions League Final occured last night (31 May) and was contested between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Inter Milan. To be honest, it didn't feel like a final. This is because of the scoreline. It had the feel of a top flight team facing off against a lower tier team.
This was supposed to be the greatest game that this sport has to offer, between the greatest teams on the planet. Well, one of them was brilliant while the other was so poor that it was an embarrassment to the competition. PSG proved why they are the best team on the planet on the night in Munich and after years of pain in the competition they crave most, the Parisians finally have it within their grasp.
This game was done 20 minutes in. PSG dominated from the first whistle and goals from Achraf Hakimi and Desire Doue - who was on smoke all night - put PSG in the box seat.
You'd have thought a motivational half-time team talk would have perked the Italians up but once the break was done, they somehow got worse. It all got a bit silly in the second half.
Doue added another, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia got one and youngster, Senny Mayulu, rounded off a record-breaking Champions League final win. With that, once Big Ears was thrust into the air by PSG skipper, Marquinhos, one of the most memorable seasons in modern history came to a close.
Luis Enrique has turned PSG into a football club, not a fashion club. His brilliant management is akin to a coup. The Spaniard took a match to the catwalk and, from the ashes of indulgence, his team are Europe's top dogs. Neymar's diamond earrings have gone, in their place something far more valuable - probably - a first Champions League trophy in PSG's history. Now, it is the future to which they can look forward to; not the past.
While celebrations erupted across the pitch, it was an emotional moment off it that captured the hearts of many. Luis Enrique, who has now won the Champions League with two different clubs, paid a deeply personal tribute after the final whistle — one that turned a professional triumph into a touching family remembrance.
Luis Enrique lost his daughter, Xana, in August 2019 after a courageous battle with osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer. She was just nine years old. Following PSG's emphatic win, Luis Enrique changed into a custom T-shirt that displayed an iconic image of Xana from his earlier managerial triumph — a photograph taken after Barcelona’s Champions League win in 2015. In it, a young Xana is seen joyfully planting the club's flag on the pitch in Berlin.
Speaking ahead of the final, Enrique had opened up about the role Xana continues to play in his life.
"I have incredible memories because my daughter loved parties, and I'm sure she's still throwing them wherever she is," he told reporters. "I remember an incredible photo I have with her at the Champions League final in Berlin, after winning the Champions League, planting an FC Barcelona flag on the pitch. I hope to be able to do the same with PSG. My daughter won't be there, she won't be there physically, but she will be there spiritually, and that's very important to me. I'm motivated to continue moving forward with what life gives me, sharing it with my family."
As Luis Enrique made his way to the supporters' section wearing the tribute T-shirt, the PSG ultras unveiled a breathtaking gesture of their own — a massive tifo portraying the same image of Xana with her father, this time reimagined in PSG colours. With tears in his eyes, Luis Enrique stood before the crowd, clearly moved by the visual tribute and the magnitude of the occasion.
For Inter, things couldn't have gone worse. The Italian side had been on course for a treble not long ago, but ultimately end the season empty-handed.
Simone Inzaghi’s men were the first team to concede five goals in a Champions League final, while the last time it happened in a European Cup was in 1962 when Benfica beat Real Madrid, 5-3.
Inter had only been behind in games for a total of 998 seconds in the whole of the Champions League this season but were unable to come from behind after the 12th minute when Hakimi scored as the Nerazzurri lost their second Champions League final in three seasons.
It was set up to be a tactically fascinating final between two teams with very different approaches but, in truth, it was a one-sided affair as a fast start from Luis Enrique’s side took the game away from Inter.
It was appropriate that a teenager was the best player on the pitch as it was truly a case of youth vs experience heading into the game. PSG fielded the youngest starting eleven in a Champions League final in the 21st century with an average age of just 25 years and 96 days.
On the other side, Inter became the first team to ever field as many as three players at least 35 years of age in their starting line-up in a Champions League final (Yann Sommer, Francesco Acerbi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan).
In fact, the difference in average age of the two starting XIs was 5 years and 146 days, with Inter’s being 30 years and 242 days; the biggest ever age gap between two starting lineups in a Champions League final.
At 19 years and 362 days old, Doué became the youngest player to provide an assist in a Champions League final, surpassing Jude Bellingham’s record with Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund from last year’s final (20 years and 338 days).
It was also Hakimi’s ninth goal involvement in the competition this season, the joint-most by a defender in a UCL season (9 – 4 goals, 5 assists) along with Ian Harte in 2000-01.
A great start from Luis Enrique’s men got even better in the 20th minute when a PSG break saw Ousmane Dembélé play a perfect ball from the left over to Doué on the right and the teenager’s shot deflected past Sommer off Federico Dimarco and into the net. It was another bad moment for Dimarco, who had also played Doué onside for the first goal.
Doué became the sixth different player to both score and assist in a Champions League final and the youngest to do so; while he was just the third teenager to score in a Champions League final after Patrick Kluivert in 1995 (for Ajax vs. Milan) and Carlos Alberto in 2004 (for Porto vs. Monaco).
It was the first time a team had scored two goals inside the first 20 minutes of a Champions League final.
To rub salt into the wounds, seconds after another double substitution from Inter, Doué made it 3-0. The youngster was rolled in by Vitinha before running through and finishing inside Sommer’s near post. It meant Doué was the youngest player to score at least twice in a Champions League final, with the next youngest being Gareth Bale (vs. Liverpool in 2018), almost nine years older at 28 years and 314 days.
After 66 minutes of unbelievable work, Doué came off for Bradley Barcola, who himself almost found the net but fired over from an angle just four minutes after coming on.
Kvaratskhelia did find the net with 17 minutes remaining to make it 4-0, equalling the European Cup/Champions League record for biggest margin of victory in a final. The Georgian was played through by Dembélé before finishing calmly past the helpless Sommer.
Then, the record was sealed with four minutes remaining as Mayulu played a one-two with Barcola before firing in at the near post, going wild in celebrations as PSG eased to their first ever Champions League in style.
Three-time European Cup winner, Marco van Basten, has blasted UEFA for what they did before the Champions League final between PSG and Inter Milan.
He made his feelings on UEFA's pre-match entertainment, which saw American rock band, Linkin Park, perform an on-pitch concert shortly before kick-off. That was then followed by a violinist performing a rendition of 'Seven Nation Army' by The White Stripes.
The pre-match concert has been a UEFA tradition for several years, with Dua Lipa's performance before the 2018 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool still fondly remembered by Reds fans.
Van Basten certainly wasn't impressed with this year's spectacle. He fumed: "The Linkin Park performance was garbage, absolutely garbage. "It's a disgrace that UEFA allows this. This is worthless.
"It is a pity for these boys who have to prepare for the most important game of their lives. UEFA copied this from FIFA. This is ridiculous."
One man died and more than 200 people were injured in clashes in Paris, after celebrations of PSG’s victory in the Champions League final on Saturday were tarnished by violence in the French capital.
Authorities arrested 563 people in France, with 491 people detained in Paris, many for causing disorder or possession of fireworks. Fans raided several shops in the Champs-Élysées area and burned cars, with the majority of the disorder happening on the central Parisian avenue after the football match.
Police chief, Laurent Nuñez, said: "Several thousand people were . . . clearly there to lay into the security services and commit looting and damage. It was clearly their only goal because . . . they weren’t even watching the match."
Two people have died and at least 192 others are injured following the Champions League final in France.
On Saturday, May 31, violent clashes broke out while soccer fans were celebrating Paris Saint-Germain's 5-0 victory against Inter Milan, Paris Police Chief Laurent Nuñe confirmed in a press conference, per BBC.
Two people died during the incident, including a 23-year-old man who was riding a scooter when he was struck by a car.
A second 17-year-old victim was fatally stabbed in the Parisian town of Dax “during the celebrations," the French news outlet, Le Monde, reported. The prosecutor's office said the suspect is currently, "on the run."
The French Interior Ministry announced that of the 559 people arrested amid the clashes, including 491 in Paris, 320 were placed in police custody, per Reuters and Le Monde.
Photos from Saturday show smashed bus shelters and riot police firing tear gas and a water cannon as chaos descended near Champs-Élysées avenue and PSG's Parc des Princes stadium.
Police reported 692 fires including more than 200 burned vehicles after the Champions League final, according to Sky News. During the press conference, Paris Police Chief Nuñe said fireworks were also thrown at officers after the match.
"We really need to differentiate the fact that there were real PSG fans enjoying their night and individuals who were not here to watch the game and just to have a go at the police officers," said Nuñe, per BBC.
Nine members of the police were injured alongside the 192 civilians in the violence that broke out after the football celebrations, Nuñe confirmed. He also said that several firefighters were attacked while responding to car fires.
Additionally, four family members were injured after a car accidentally, "careered into fans celebrating PSG's win in Grenoble in southeastern France," Le Monde reported. The driver handed himself in to the police and was placed under arrest. He tested negative for alcohol and drugs, according to the outlet.
Paris Saint-Germain is set to go ahead with a 90-minute victory parade on the Champs-Élysées according to the BBC
I must admit that this match didn't meet the standards of a final. Said matches should always be tight and hotly contested. It should be nail biting. It should never be a walkover. I agree that this match is an embarrassment to UEFA. The tributes done towards Luis Enrique's late daughter was both cute and heart warming.
There was zero need for violence. This should've been a time to celebrate. Winning the Champions League isn't exactly a walk in the park. Everyone in Paris should've been united and celebrate the joyous event.