May 30 – Paris Saint-Germain will be the slight favourites to win their first Champions League, but a resilient, battle-tested Inter Milan will provide obdurate opposition in the final in Munich, Saturday.
Without the presence of Real Madrid or an English Premier League club, the final may have the appearance of being low wattage, but PSG, the nouveau riches of European football, and Inter Milan, the old aristocracy, are deserved finalists after eliminating Arsenal and FC Barcelona, the last in spectacular fashion.
The showpiece match of the European club season will likely be tight and less cavalier in approach than some of the knockout matches.
PSG have impressed, eliminating Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal. In particular, they made Liverpool look ordinary. The Parisians have built a young, dynamic team without superstars following the departure of Kylian Mbappé. Portuguese stars Joao Neves and Vitinha anchor the team with great swagger.
By contrast, Inter Milan, who line up in 3-5-2, are considered old-school Italian assassins, but under manager Filippo Inzaghi they are more than that. The team doesn’t have global stars but they have proven to be tactically versatile and dealt with FC Barcelona in what is already considered one of the great Champions League ties of the modern era.
Inzaghi said: “We know that it will be difficult, we know that we’re facing a super team just like Barcelona and Bayern Munich but they will come up against a team which has the same goal as PSG. All we can do is try and put in a great performance in the final.”
Two years ago, Inter lost the Champions League final 1-0 against Manchester City in Istanbul, but they have won the competition three times. PSG have never won Europe’s premier club competition, despite a huge outlay by their Qatari owners. The French club lost the 2020 final against Bayern Munich 1-0.
Luis Enrique’s side has an average age of 24, but he is desperate to make history with his club.
“We know what kind of football we want to play and now we just need to go out and do it to our full potential. It is always very difficult to get to the final of the Champions League. All players and coaches dream of playing in it but most don’t get the chance. We want to be the first ones in Paris to win the Champions League and make history,” said Enrique.
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