PSG Crush Inter 5-0 to Win First Champions League Title
Achraf Hakimi, playing against his former club, gave PSG an early lead and Doue went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled their advantage in the 20th minute.
Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu made it five.
Inter were simply no match for the French club, who recorded the biggest victory by any team in the final in the 70-year history of the European Cup and Champions League.
'This means everything. It's my dream, it's our dream. It's incredible. The result is not by magic. I'm happy we did it like this, we're now going to celebrate,' said Portuguese midfielder Vitinha, who was one of PSG's creative sparks.
The triumph for the Parisians comes after more than a decade of huge investment from their Qatari owners, and five years after they lost to Bayern Munich in their only previous final appearance.
Already French league and cup double winners, they are remarkably just the second ever French winners of European football's biggest prize -- Marseille were the first in 1993, when they beat AC Milan in a final also played in Munich.
It is also a second Champions League for PSG coach Luis Enrique, who won with Lionel Messi's Barcelona a decade ago.
This youthful PSG side is the best the competition has seen since, one that has been intelligently pieced together over the last two years and fully unleashed this season following the departure of Kylian Mbappe.
Indeed the star on the night was teenager Doue, who delivered a masterclass just before he turns 20 on Tuesday.
For Inter, there was to be no first Champions League title since 2010 as they failed to add to their three previous triumphs in the competition.
Simone Inzaghi's side have now got to the final twice in three seasons and lost both, and this defeat comes a week after they missed out on the Serie A title to Napoli.
They end the campaign trophyless, and their ageing side will need to be rebuilt.
Doue at the double
PSG gave their opponents no chance from the off on a sweaty night at the Allianz Arena, and they were ahead in the 12th minute.
It was a glorious goal, Vitinha threading a pass to Doue who squared for Hakimi to finish into an empty net, before refusing to celebrate against his former club.
It was also the earliest goal in a Champions League final since 2019, and recent history was already firmly against Inter.
The last final in which both teams scored was in 2018, while the last team to concede the first goal but still win were Real Madrid in 2014.
But soon Inter were further behind with a goal that came on a counterattack.
Willian Pacho prevented Inter from winning a corner, his clearance falling to Kvaratskhelia, who released Ousmane Dembele. His pass found Doue, and the youngster who was preferred in the starting line-up to Bradley Barcola fired past Yann Sommer, via a deflection off Federico Dimarco.
Inter only really came close to scoring in the first half when Marcus Thuram headed just wide at a corner, but things got worse after the break.
The night for Inzaghi's side was summed up by defender Yann Bisseck, who came on for Benjamin Pavard early in the second half but limped off less than 10 minutes later.
Their back line was at sixes and sevens as PSG made it 3-0 on 63 minutes, Dembele's flick releasing Vitinha before the little Portuguese playmaker set up Doue to beat Sommer at his near post.
Doue came off shortly after to rapturous applause, but his teammates were far from done.
Dembele sent Kvaratskhelia away to to make it 4-0 in the 73rd minute, and the 19-year-old Mayulu then played a one-two with Barcola before lashing in the fifth on 86 minutes.
That rounded off an incredible night, with PSG becoming the first team to score five goals in the final since Benfica in 1962.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
7 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Fans and family honour 'Palestinian Pele' killed in Gaza
GAZA CITY: The "Pele" of Palestinian football hoped to keep scoring goals until he was 50. A US tank shell dashed that dream a decade early, his family said, killing Suleiman al-Obeid as he queued in southern Gaza this week to collect food. Obeid's widow, Doaa al-Obeid, now clutches the blue-and-white number 10 shorts he wore for his Gaza club, Al-Shati, one of the only mementoes she has of her late husband, as she and her five children mourn the revered 41-year-old striker. "This is the most precious thing left behind by him," she said. The family have few other belongings of Obeid, whose home was destroyed in a bombardment earlier this year. They now live in a tent among the ruins of a neighbourhood of Gaza City. Obeid, likened by fans to Brazilian great Pele for his skills and goalscoring, hit headlines this week after Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah criticised a tribute to Obeid by Europe's governing body UEFA that did not mention the cause of death. "Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?" wrote Salah. The Palestinian Football Association said Obeid was killed in an attack by the Israeli military in southern Gaza while waiting to collect aid at a distribution point. His family said it was a tank shell that killed him. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment and has not publicly commented on Obeid's death. Obeid, who had played for the Palestinian national team, was still playing for his club in Gaza when the war between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023. Hamas attacked Israeli towns and villages killing more than 1,200 people. Israel, in response, has laid waste to the Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave housing more than 2 million people, and killed some 61,000 Palestinians. Most have been killed by airstrikes, artillery and gunfire, but a growing number are starving to death. 'THIS PLAYER WAS A GAZELLE' Obeid kept playing throughout the hardship, his widow Doaa said. "He used to go training every day and never stopped, not a single day. Even during the crisis of war, in the midst of rockets, shelling and mass killing, he would go and play. He used to gather his friends and loved ones and go play with them," she said. The Palestinian Football Association says hundreds of athletes and sports officials are among those killed by Israel's assault, with most sports facilities now destroyed. Palestinian football fans say they will focus not on Obeid's violent death but on his legacy. "Children called him the Henry and Pele of Palestine," said Hassan al-Balawi, a barber in Gaza City, in a comparison also with French great Thierry Henry. "This player was a gazelle – when we stepped onto the pitch, we enjoyed watching him. All Palestinian football fans enjoyed Captain Suleiman al-Obeid."
The Sun
10 hours ago
- The Sun
Florian Wirtz wins Germany Player of the Year after Liverpool move
LIVERPOOL'S club-record signing Florian Wirtz has been named Germany's player of the year, further cementing the attacking midfielder's status as a rising star. Wirtz, whose £100 million ($134 million) transfer fee with add-ons could rise to £116 millon in what would be a British record, secured 191 votes among German sports journalists, putting him comfortably ahead of runner-up Michael Olise of Bayern Munich, who garnered 81 votes. The 22-year-old attacking midfielder arrived at Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen in June, part of a spending spree that has seen players including French forward Hugo Ekitike and Hungarian leftback Milos Kerkez join the squad as Liverpool bid to retain the Premier League title. Wirtz has been hailed as one of the 'top players in the world. He is world class,' by former Leverkusen coach and ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is the new boss of Real Madrid. After joining, Wirtz told Liverpool's website that he 'would like to win everything every year!' 'In the end, we want to be successful,' he said. 'Last season they won the Premier League so my goal is for sure to win it again and also to go further in the Champions League. I'm really ambitious,' he added. Wirtz played a key role in Leverkusen's greatest season as they claimed a first-ever Bundesliga title and the German Cup in 2023/24 without losing a single game domestically under Alonso. Their only defeat that season, during which Wirtz was crowned Bundesliga player of the year, came in the Europa League final to Italian side Atalanta, denying Leverkusen a memorable treble. A return of 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games for Leverkusen is evidence that he carries a threat both as a creator and a goalscorer. Liverpool are already blessed with an abundance of forward options -- including Mohammed Salah -- but the club are banking on Wirtz's creativity to help maintain the 33-year-old's prolific goalscoring and ease the burden of carrying the Liverpool attack. - AFP
New Straits Times
10 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Florian Wirtz named Germany's Player of the Year
BERLIN: Liverpool's club-record signing Florian Wirtz has been named Germany's player of the year, further cementing the attacking midfielder's status as a rising star. Wirtz, whose £100 million ($134 million) transfer fee with add-ons could rise to £116 millon in what would be a British record, secured 191 votes among German sports journalists, putting him comfortably ahead of runner-up Michael Olise of Bayern Munich, who garnered 81 votes. The 22-year-old attacking midfielder arrived at Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen in June, part of a spending spree that has seen players including French forward Hugo Ekitike and Hungarian leftback Milos Kerkez join the squad as Liverpool bid to retain the Premier League title. Wirtz has been hailed as one of the "top players in the world. He is world class," by former Leverkusen coach and ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is the new boss of Real Madrid. After joining, Wirtz told Liverpool's website that he "would like to win everything every year!" "In the end, we want to be successful," he said. "Last season they won the Premier League so my goal is for sure to win it again and also to go further in the Champions League. I'm really ambitious," he added. Wirtz played a key role in Leverkusen's greatest season as they claimed a first-ever Bundesliga title and the German Cup in 2023/24 without losing a single game domestically under Alonso. Their only defeat that season, during which Wirtz was crowned Bundesliga player of the year, came in the Europa League final to Italian side Atalanta, denying Leverkusen a memorable treble. A return of 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games for Leverkusen is evidence that he carries a threat both as a creator and a goalscorer. Liverpool are already blessed with an abundance of forward options – including Mohammed Salah – but the club are banking on Wirtz's creativity to help maintain the 33-year-old's prolific goalscoring and ease the burden of carrying the Liverpool attack.--AFP
