Five-star Paris Saint-Germain are champions of Europe

Times of Oman

2 days ago

MUNICH: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are European champions for the first time after a record-breaking 5-0 victory over Inter in the UEFA Champions League final played in Munich on Sunday night.
Luis Enrique-coached PSG are the 24th different champions in European Cup history and it was the second Champions League title for Enrique, having previously won with Barcelona.
Inter had trailed for only 17 minutes of their 14-game campaign prior to the final, but it did not take long for them to fall behind on this occasion.
Vitinha picked the first lock with a perfectly-weighted pass for Désiré Doué, who in turn showed silky skill to square for Hakimi to convert from close range against his former club.
Ousmane Dembélé provided the silver-service assist on 20 minutes, racing clear down the left before checking back on the edge of the penalty area to locate Doué.
The 19-year-old needed one touch with his chest to take control and another with his right foot to fire in a shot which deflected in off Federico Dimarco.
The Nerazzurri settled as the half wore on but had only off-target headers from Francesco Acerbi and Marcus Thuram to show for their efforts.
Though there was renewed vigour from Simone Inzaghi's side after the break, it was Les Rouge-et-Bleu who once again had the creative and clinical edge. It was Vitinha's turn to drive decisively from midfield just after the hour, exchanging passes with Dembélé before sliding through for Doué to drill emphatically into the bottom right of the goal.
It was a different corner but the same result ten minutes later, Dembélé laying on his second assist of the night for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who fired low into the net.
Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled off a stunning save to keep out Thuram but there was still time for Senny Mayulu to apply the record-breaking flourish.
Mayulu, also 19, combined neatly with fellow replacement Bradley Barcola before smashing a powerful strike in off a post. Paris had secured the biggest-ever margin of victory in a European Cup final.
It was a commanding first-half performance morphed into one of blissful attacking endeavour in the second. An incisive, inspired showing from PSG, and one which makes history for more reasons than one.
Former England star Rio Ferdinand told TNT Sports after the match: "Paris dominated it – they suffocated them and pressed them. From the word go, they pressed the life out of them and they had players that were in killer mode today. It's an astonishing performance in a game of this magnitude. I don't think I've ever seen such dominance at this stage."
Key stats:
• Doué and Mayulu are only the third and fourth teenagers to score in a UEFA Champions League final, after Patrick Kluivert in 1995 and Carlos Alberto in 2004.
• No team had ever won a European Cup final by more than a four-goal margin prior to this.
• Doué is the first player to score twice in a final since Gareth Bale for Real Madrid against Liverpool in 2018, and the eighth to do so in the Champions League era.
• Luis Enrique is the seventh coach to win the European Cup with multiple teams, having also guided Barcelona to glory in 2015.
• Hakimi is the first Moroccan to score in a European Cup final.
• Paris have played 99 Champions League matches since they were involved in a 0-0 draw (vs Real Madrid, 2015/16 group stage).
• Inter had trailed for just 17 minutes of their entire 14-game campaign prior to the final.
• All four European Cup finals in Munich have produced a first-time winner.
What next:
PSG will take on UEFA Europa League winners Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup in Udine on Wednesday, 13 August.
The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League begins with the first qualifying round on 8/9 July; the draw takes place on Tuesday 17 June.
Both PSG and Inter will enter next season's competition in the league phase, the draw for which takes place on 28 August.
Line-ups:
PSG: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes (Hernández 78); João Neves (Zaïre-Emery 84), Vitinha, Fabián Ruiz (Mayulu 84); Kvaratskhelia (Gonçalo Ramos 84), Dembélé, Doué (Barcola 66)
Inter Milan: Sommer; Pavard (Bisseck 53; Darmian 62), Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Hakan Çalhanoglu (Asllani 70), Mkhitaryan (Augusto 62), Dimarco (Zalewski 53); Lautaro Martínez, Thuram.