Champions League Referee Ends The Fight Early As PSG Win Historic Final
MUNICH, GERMANY - MAY 31: Marquinhos of Paris Saint Germain celebrates victory with the trophy after ... More the UEFA Champions League Final 2025 between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Internazionale Milano at Munich Football Arena on May 31, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
As Paris Saint-Germain coasted to a convincing 5-0 victory in the UEFA Champions League final against Internazionale, the referee for the final, István Kovács, decided enough was enough and blew his whistle at the earliest opportunity.
Like a boxing referee who stops the bout before time to prevent serious injury when one fighter is dominant, Kovács decided Inter had taken enough punishment, and no time was added on at the end of the second half as would normally be the case.
Just a few seconds past the 90-minute mark, the whistle sounded, catching a few TV and radio commentators off guard as they prepared their final lines to announce PSG as the 2025 Champions League winner.
In truth, those broadcasters and journalists working on the game had had plenty of time to prepare their closing chapter and verse, as it looked from very early on like there would be only one winner in this game.
Once Achraf Hakimi opened the scoring for PSG in the 12th minute, and Désiré Doué followed it up with a second on 20 minutes, a one-sided game was on the cards.
MUNICH, GERMANY - MAY 31: Referee István Kovács (R) speaks to Gianluigi Donnarumma of Paris ... More Saint-Germain (L) during the UEFA Champions League Final 2025 between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Internazionale Milano at Munich Football Arena on May 31, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Sports)
PSG were strong, but Inter's defence looked ragged at times, and they struggled to keep their defensive line organised.
Bad defending was as much to blame for the lopsided result as good attacking.
Hakimi's goal could have been prevented had the Italian team played a half-decent offside trap, but as it was, the line was straggly and unorganized.
The combination of these two things produced a historic scoreline.
Though PSG was only 2-0 up at halftime, Inter never looked like getting back into it.
The team from Milan had only managed two shots in total in the first half, neither on target, with an xG of just 0.19.
The second half saw PSG secure the win through a second goal for Désiré Doué and further goals for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and 19-year-old substitute Senny Mayulu.
dpatop - 31 May 2025, Bavaria, Munich: Soccer: Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain - Inter Milan, ... More knockout round, final, Munich Football Arena. Desire Doue of Paris celebrates his goal to make it 3-0. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)
This 5-0 win for PSG was the largest winning margin in the history of the European Cup, now known as the Champions League.
The only other teams that have scored five or more goals in a European Cup final are the great Benfica side featuring Eusébio, which defeated Real Madrid 5-3 in Amsterdam in 1962, and Real Madrid themselves a couple of years earlier in 1960 at Hampden Park, Glasgow, when Ferenc Puskás and Alfredo Di Stéfano combined to defeat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3.
But no team has ever won a European Cup / Champions League final by a five-goal margin.
In context, it was not really surprising or controversial that the referee blew on the 90-minute mark, but it is an unusual occurrence for such a high-profile, competitive match.
Most games will have at least four minutes added on at the end of a game, and with six stoppages for substitutions and three for the goals scored, at least three would have been expected in this game.
It is sometimes the case that referees will recognize the situation and call time on the game as soon as the 90 minutes of normal time are up.
The early whistle from Kovács, who performed his refereeing duties well in a relatively uncontroversial game, was just one indication of how one-sided it was. The scoreline itself shows as much, and the stats show the same.
This young PSG side, led by manager Luis Enrique, has undoubtedly been the best team in Europe in 2025, convincing throughout the knockout stages despite an unremarkable group stage performance. It now has the club's first European Cup to show for it.
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