Three things we learned from the UEFA Champions League Final as PSG clobber Inter Milan
Paris Saint-Germain are champions of Europe for the first tim and will head to the Club World Cup as national and continental champions following a 5-0 beatdown of Inter Milan on Saturday in Munich.
MORE — PSG 5-0 Inter Milan recap
Here's what we learned from a dominant coronation in Germany.
Give Luis Enrique his flowers as PSG's slow league phase proves no predictor
The final days of the league phase had both Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain among the giants concerned with just making it to the knockout rounds, let alone earning a bye. PSG was cruising in Ligue 1 but opened the Champions League with an uninspiring win over Girona followed by losses to Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, and Bayern Munich plus a home draw with PSV Eindhoven. They rebounded to reach the final stage, and not only found their footing but impressed in dominating Brest, beating Liverpool at Anfield, out-firing Aston Villa, and then sweeping Arsenal aside to reach the final. It was natural to question Enrique's chops given his only trophies had come with Lionel Messi's Barcelona and domestically with French powers PSG but those questions will now fall on deaf ears. Throw in the weight that comes from PSG's overwhelming desire to win the European Cup, and Enrique really embossed the text on his resume this season.
Inter Milan's midfield made moot
In theory, Inter should've had a good chance to win the midfield given both the numbers and experience. That did not happen, as Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, and Joao Neves controlled the middle of the park and Simone Inzaghi used four of his first five subs on midfielders. It changed almost nothing. Vitinha in particular was unshakeable, and PSG's attackers had no worries in pushing forward without care for what might lay behind them.
Doue does what Neymar (and many others) could not
PSG can look to its youth — and the rest of the young prime players in France — and tell them now, 'You really don't need to leave to win everything.' Les Parisiens have boasted World Cup winners and now have seen their colors atop the UEFA Champions League mountain. Neymar
1+1 - Paris SG's Désiré Doué is the sixth different player to both score and assist in a UEFA Champions League final, while at 19 years and 362 days, he's the youngest to do so. Star. pic.twitter.com/6k8X0j3Fvj
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