PSG primed for maiden Champions League title in tight tussle with Inter Milan

Daily Maverick

a day ago

Inter Milan are out to stop Paris Saint-Germain from becoming the latest club to win the European Champions League for the first time.
This year's European Champions League finalists – Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Inter Milan – stand at opposite ends of the soccer spectrum. While the French side is seeking its first ever Champions League title, the Italians have won it three times.
Under their Spanish manager Luis Enrique, PSG exude youthful exuberance. The likes of teenage forward Désiré Doué, João Neves, Bradley Barcola and Willian Pacho have stepped up under the no-nonsense Enrique. This despite their inexperience playing in Europe's premier club competition.
Players such as fleet-footed forward Ousmane Dembélé, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and Vitinha provide some experience to balance things out. Nevertheless, they are far from being veterans.
Inter, by contrast, is a team stacked with battle-hardened and streetsmart soldiers, from their goalkeeper Yann Sommer to midfielders Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Çalhanoğlu — plus enigmatic forward Marko Arnautović. However, their talisman is undoubtedly Lautaro Martínez.
Battle-scarred Inter
While PSG's 3-1 semifinal win over Arsenal was not a walkover, Inter head into the final having come out as 7-6 victors during a titanic last-four clash against Barcelona. Inter's frailties were exposed by a relentless Barcelona attack, but so was their fighting spirit.
What will inspire some confidence for the Parisians is the fact that since their success over Arsenal, they have continued winning. A week ago, they brushed aside Reims 3-0 to be crowned French Cup champions. They also clinched the 13th French league title of their history.
This means PSG are on the brink of an historic treble should they cast aside Inter on Saturday, 31 May 2025, in Munich. Inter, on the other hand, enter the final nursing heartbreak after being pipped to the 2024/25 Serie A league crown by Napoli. Only one point separated the two teams after all matches had been played.
'The league championship that just concluded left us with something to remember,' Inter manager Simone Inzaghi said. 'There is a lot of suffering in myself and in the players, it's pointless denying it.'
Not be trifled with
The team can numb this pain by clinching their fourth overall Champions League victory in history. The last time the Italian outfit ascended to the summit of European soccer was in 2010 — under Jose Mourinho. That Mourinho side had a similar profile to this Inter, with its unwavering willpower and tenacity.
'It's Inter's second final in three years. They're ready. They've not made too many changes to their side. It's a team that dominates from set pieces. It's up to us to go into the final in the right frame of mind,' said PSG boss Enrique.
'We've grown a lot this season and the players have progressed a lot. The strength of the team is the most important thing. You learn something every day after many years of experience as a coach, and I'm improving all the time with this group.'
The Spanish tactician is not in unfamiliar territory. He reached and won the Champions League final as Barcelona manager in 2015. It is the reason he was brought to PSG in the first place.
New era
After PSG's strategy of reeling in soccer's superstars failed to pay dividends, only delivering one Champions League final (which they lost to Bayern Munich in 2020), there has been a change of philosophy within the club.
The enormous egos of influential figures such as Kylian Mbappe and Neymar (who PSG made the two most expensive players in the world) have been replaced by the earlier-mentioned youthful vigour and humility of the current crop. Whereas in the past the authority of PSG managers in the dressing room may have been questioned, Enrique is the clear conductor of this Parisian orchestra.
They have one more major performance this season. If they are to succeed where numerous other PSG teams have failed since the 2011 takeover of the club by Qatar Sports Investments, Saturday's match will have to be the most melodic display of what has been a memorable season for them. The mandate is clear.
'Our aim is to make the club an institution respected around the world. If we are going to make that happen, we have to win the Champions League… Any team that wins it is seen differently by everyone else,' PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has previously said of the club's ambitions.
Over the past 25 years, Chelsea and Manchester City became first-time winners of Europe's most coveted piece of silverware. PSG will be looking to become the latest newcomers to this exclusive club. It's what they've worked towards since 2011. DM