It’s old money vs new money, the club who’ve failed consistently in Europe for years against the one with six European trophies. So have PSG broken their curse, or will Inter’s nous see them through in this year’s Champions League final?
By Ian King
Contrasting domestic run-ins but deserved finalists
PSG have lost five games in the Champions League and just two in Ligue 1 this season, with a domestic double already secured. They blasted their way through to the final by decimating the English presence in the competition over the course of the knockout stages, beating Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal in successive rounds to get to the final.
Successive 1-0 defeats to Bologna and Roma last month handed the Serie A title to Napoli, but Inter have only lost once in the Champions League this season, a 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in a League Phase match when they’d already qualified for the next round. They beat Feyenoord, Bayern Munich and Barcelona in the knockouts to get this far.
History
Somewhat surprisingly, these two have never met in a competitive European match before. The last time they did meet was in a friendly played at the National Stadium in Tokyo in August 2023, which Inter won 2-1.
PSG have one European trophy to their name, the 1995/96 Cup Winners Cup. Inter’s record is somewhat stronger. They’ve won the European Cup / Champions League three times, the last of which came in 2010, and they last appeared in the final in 2023. They’ve also won the UEFA Cup / Europa League three times.
Key Players
Ousmane Dembélé, with 33 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions this season, is the obvious star man for PSG, but those looking for a Parisian goal from somewhere else might want to pay attention to Désiré Doué, who’s scored 13 himself from the wing. PSG have scored 147 goals in all competitions this season – 33 more than Inter – and they have four players in double-figures for goals.
Inter have had 21 different goalscorers this season, so their goals can come from just about anywhere. It may be worth keeping an eye on Denzel Dumfries, the roving defender who’s scored 11 goals in all competitions for them this season. And the Dutchman starred in both legs of the epic semifinal against Barcelona.
Team News
Inter’s big loss is Valentín Carboni, who tore a cruciate ligament in October and won’t be back until next season. Benjamin Pavard and Piotr Zielinski had knocks which saw them miss their last Serie A match of the season at Como, but both should be back for this.
PSG’s only absentee is Presnel Kimpembe, but he’s only played two league games for them in the last two seasons, so that’s no great surprise. Neither have any suspensions.
Prediction
PSG really are something of a conundrum, the team that improved for losing Messi, Mbappé and Neymar. The Qatari money that’s been poured into the club over years has made their European failures a source of constant amusement, for those interested in such things, but this season they’ve felt… different. It’s a tribute to head coach Luis Enrique that he’s turned them around to this extent.
Inter, meanwhile, stray close to that cliche of the Italian club with the savoir-faire to pull something out the bag on any big occasion, and they’ve already beaten two of the favourites to get this far. But this season’s PSG have looked different, and it’s felt as though their name has been written on this year’s Champions League for a while. This has been the season of teams who don’t usually win things, winning things, so let’s go for 2-1 PSG as an appropriate season-ender.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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