Paris Saint-Germain’s ascent to the top of European soccer after humiliating Inter Milan with a rampant 5-0 victory on Saturday.
Saturday’s Champions League triumph confirmed what many observers had suspected for some time – that PSG’s moment had finally come. The French gaints completed a league, cup and Champions League treble on a night when 19-year-old forward Désiré Doué announced himself to the world with a two-goal performance.
Achraf Hakimi’s 12th-minute opener set PSG on their way before Doue’s double and goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Senny Mayulu completed the most lopsided winning margin in Champions League final history. And the flip side for Inter, who lost a second final in three seasons, is that they are now the team that suffered the biggest defeat in this showpiece game.
With the win, PSG manager Luis Enrique becomes the second manager in history to win the treble with two different teams after Pep Guardiola. — Mark Ogden.
Years of frustration in European club soccer’s elite competition was blown away in one glorious and historic night in Munich.
Not only did PSG end its long wait for the trophy it prized most of all but it produced a statement performance and set a new benchmark for what it is to win the Champions League title.
The 5-0 rout of Inter Milan was officially the biggest winning margin of any final in the competition’s 70-year history. And it could have been so much more emphatic had Bradley Barcola been clinical in front of goal, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia taken more than just one of his chances or Désiré Doué stayed on the field for longer than 67 minutes having scored two and set up another.
Star striker Ousmane Dembele didn’t even get a goal to his name.
As impressive as PSG’s victory was, it could have been even better. In other words, this is a team that is yet to reach its peak.
Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi’s setup suggested Inter would absorb PSG’s front-foot start (similar to the one that rattled Arsenal at the Parc des Princes) and then settle into the game.
That’s when, it was hoped, PSG’s press would get a little less tidy, allowing Inter to (1) play through it and start keeping the ball in midfield, or (2) count on Alessandro Bastoni’s diagonal to Denzel Dumfries to release Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martínez 2-on-2 with PSG’s central defenders. Ideally, they would get set pieces and exploit those too, given their physical and size edge over PSG.
Except within 20 minutes, Inter were two-nil down. And everything got that much harder. A midfield that was already rattled could muster little possession and even less creativity. Leading by two goals, PSG could devote resources to neuter Inter’s wingbacks and deny service to Inter’s front two.
At that point, unless Inter snatched a goal before the half (and they didn’t, Thuram’s header went wide) it was hard to see how Inzaghi was going to change it. Because, truth be told, Inter have very rarely been behind all season — coming into Saturday’s final, Inter trailed for only eight minutes in the Champions League.
Inter had been through a lot but had never been punched, and they didn’t know how to respond against PSG. — Gab Marcotti
With an average age of 24.8 years old, PSG’s starting lineup was packed with youth, which was in stark contrast to an Inter team with an average age of over 30.
At 31, captain Marquinhos was PSG’s only starter over 30, while Doué was one of three teenagers to play, along with substitutes Senny Mayulu and Warren Zaire-Emery.
“We have a lot of young players – players who need to develop and I’m one of them,” Doué said. “We are always going to strive to get better.”
Keeping young teams together is easier said than done when Europe’s biggest clubs come calling. That should not be a concern for Qatar-backed PSG, which is one of the richest clubs in the world and in recent years has focused on picking up the best young talent – from France in particular.
Ambition
It seems there is little danger of PSG settling for just one Champions League title.
“We are ambitious, we are going to continue to conquer the football world,” a triumphant Luis Enrique said Saturday night after winning the trophy for the second time as a coach, 10 years after leading Barcelona to the trophy.
He sounds like a man who has his sights set on building a new era of dominance and quickly turned to adding to the treble of trophies already won this season.
Next up is the newly expanded Club World Cup.
“I think it is an incredible competition. Maybe not now in its first edition, but it will become an incredibly important competition to win,” he said of the tournament that kicks off in the United States this month. “We want to finish the season in style with the cherry on the cake.”
Luis Enrique
The 55-year-old Luis Enrique has established himself as one of the finest coaches in the world after winning a second Champions League title.
PSG has entrusted him to build a team in his image, rather than a selection of superstars and it has paid off.
He has turned PSG into a Champions League winner while playing arguably the most exciting soccer in Europe, with Barcelona possibly the only team to rival it in the entertainment stakes.
Yet while Barcelona was picked off by a wily Inter in the semifinals, the Italians were blown away by PSG.
Liverpool, which ran away with the Premier League title this season, was eliminated in the round of 16, while Manchester City and Arsenal were beaten as well.
Luis Enrique’s brand of soccer has simply been too good for the rest in Europe, which is now playing catch up.
Transfers
It is difficult to see where PSG needs to add to a squad with so much depth, but its rise to the top has come on the back of spending billions on some of the world’s best players.
The era of Galactico signings is over for now, but the arrival of Kvaratskhelia from Napoli in January was evidence of president Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s ongoing willingness to go big in the transfer market.
The Georgian forward sparked a dramatic turnaround in PSG’s form in Europe, which saw it go from near elimination at the league phase to Champions League winner.
