Archive June 1, 2025

Paris St-Germain won the Champions League for the first time on a special night in Munich, which caused Luis Enrique to wept in awe of his own joy and emotion.

And, as PSG outclassed Inter Milan for a historic 5-0 victory, brilliant teenager Desire Doue confirmed his status as one half of a new duo of young superstars – alongside Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal – who have the genius to dominate the game for years to come.

Luis Enrique, the PSG coach, who won the 2015 World Cup with Barcelona as his only other coach, became the poignant human storyteller. He is only the sixth coach to do so with two different clubs.

With the focus on generational teenage talent Doue and one of the best team displays in this and its previous forms of the European Cup, the sporting story featured prominently in the sporting story.

On the most important night of a career, Doue made the biggest stage in European club football his playground.

Beyond the glory of this PSG triumph, which finally brought the enormous Champions League trophy to The City of Light, this victory was also significant and meaningful for 55-year-old Asturian Luis Enrique.

After PSG won the 2015 match against Juventus in Berlin, the man who transformed PSG revealed how he helped his daughter Xana plant a Barcelona flag in the center circle.

He said he hoped he might make the same gesture here in her memory after she died from a rare form of bone cancer aged nine in 2019.

He put on a t-shirt with the image of himself and his daughter planting a PSG flag in the afterglow of victory.

Then, in a moment of raw emotion, PSG’s “Ultras” planted a flag in the French club’s shirt, creating a gigantic flag emblazoned with a picture of a father and daughter.

It was a wonderful gesture on a joyful night for PSG in Munich, when all their agonies as they chased the Champions League were washed away in one of the greatest displays any team has produced in a European final.

“I’m very happy,” he declared. The fans’ banner for my family was very emotional at the end. But I always think about my daughter”, said Luis Enrique.

And the inspiration came from 19-year-old Doue, who is now a full-fledged superstar, a far cry from the vulnerable youngster, who played only 64 minutes before being replaced in the team’s 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in October.

It was after 63 minutes here on this humid night in Munich that Doue applied another flourish to a magical performance, steering home his second goal and PSG’s third after making the first for Achraf Hakimi in the 12th minute then adding the second eight minutes later.

Football had witnessed a generational talent who would continue to grace the game for many years when he was taken off moments after scoring his second.

After Carlos Alberto for Porto nine years later and Patrick Kluivert for Ajax for Ajax in 1995, he becomes the third teenager to reach the Champions League final. The forward was also the first player to be involved in three goals in a Champions League final, with an assist and two himself.

And in 1962, Doue overtook Eusébio, who was 20 years and 97 days old when he scored the same goal for Benfica against Real Madrid in 1962, to become the youngest player to do so in a European Cup or Champions League final.

He was a key component of PSG’s overall performance, which increased exponentially throughout the Champions League when they defeated Manchester City, knocked out Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Arsenal in the knockout stages, culminating in the most stunning, emphatic manner.

If Inter Milan had a plan, PSG gave them no opportunity to implement it.

As he lifted the trophy, a career in its early stages but with promising prospects, Doue grinned broadly.

As they have done throughout this Champions League campaign, PSG’s “Ultras” unfurled a giant tifo with a message for the players they hoped would finally put them at the pinnacle of European football.

Together, We Are Invincible, translates to “Ensemble, Nous Sommes Invincibles.”

And they were present, so the idea that the youngest Champions League team could defeat the oldest was a given right away.

This was football played at another level, pace and intensity matched by the highest quality. As the game progressed, PSG’s younger and faster appearances became apparent, while this experienced Inter side’s age was unavoidable.

The success of PSG was a monument built by statistics.

The five-goal victory margin was the biggest in any European Cup or Champions League final.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Senny Mayulu, both 19, added additional goals after Doue left.

The Champions League champions league team was PSG. The competition got fitting winners, but rarely have winners played like this, sweeping aside supposedly formidable opposition in a manner that will live forever in the memory of all who witnessed it.

Due to PSG’s dominance and the sheer number of chances they created, the final scoreline almost did a kind favor to a betrayed Inter.

All done after a switch of strategy away from the “bling bling” days of France forward Kylian Mbappe, Brazil’s Neymar and Argentina’s Lionel Messi.

What must Mbappe have thought of this while watching?

There could not be more compelling evidence than this to show Luis Enrique took his chance, persuaded club president Nasser al-Khelaifi and advisor Luis Campos that he could create a better PSG side following the passing of Mbappe.

“This season is best season ever and we are so proud”, Al-Khelaifi told CBS. The future-oriented team is being built by us. We won’t change, no matter what today’s outcome was. The real work starts today. We must be down to earth and humble.

I’m so proud of France, the fans, and the country. I think it is amazing for France, not just for Paris, because France deserves better. We are confident that the league will continue to improve and that the historic clubs we have are strong.

“It has been difficult. We have been criticised a lot. People were criticizing what we were doing because we had been trying to work for French football. Of course, it hurts a lot, but I had my attention on our goal.

Simply put, one of the greatest European final performances ever.

Chris Sutton, in Munich, told BBC Radio 5 Live:” Luis Enrique was the final piece in the jigsaw to get them here. He must fit into the long list of greatest European managers ever.

We mentioned the team’s age range of Doue, Vitinha, Joao Neves, Willian Pacho, and Hakimi. It’s where they go from here.

This team is just beginning to develop, they say. My main concern is with the work ethic. This is a team who are prepared to run and they put the graft in and that’s why they were successful. “

Watch highlights of every Champions League game on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport, and the BBC Sport website and app from 12:00 to eve of the match.

Inter Milan’s storied era is over, right?

The Nerazzuri may now feel that their own rebuild is necessary this summer, albeit on a tighter budget, as Paris St-Germain defeated Inter 5-0 to win their first Champions League victory.

The assembled PSG starting XI at Allianz Arena cost about £403 million, compared to the roughly £137 million Inter paid for their starting lineup.

The third-oldest team in Champions League final history was led by Inter boss Simone Inzaghi, whose future is uncertain. Seven of the same starting XI from Istanbul, which lost to Manchester City two years ago, have re-composed.

“The players deserve a lot of credit. They gave it their best shot. After the game, Inzaghi said, “I wouldn’t change these players for anything,” but he didn’t promise that he would be the one in charge of the Fifa Club World Cup in the future.

What had the potential to be a treble-winning season just weeks ago just ended up being nothing because of the youth of PSG, they simply couldn’t deal with.

Inter were the first team to start three players aged 36 or older in a European Cup or Champions League final under the direction of Francesco Acerbi, Yann Sommer, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

They did appear to be one of the oldest teams in the competition as the game progressed, according to BBC Match of the Day pundit Nedum Onuoha, who noted that the scoreline was also improving.

Owners Oaktree, who took over the club last year, wanted to adopt a “model of investments in slightly younger profiles who represent a real asset,” according to Inter president Giuseppe Marotta before this final.

Before the Munich showdown against PSG, they would be even surer if they even had a shred of doubt.

The club is strong, Inzaghi declared. The organization helps us. For the upcoming season, we have signed two players.

He was referring to the 21-year-old Croatian midfielder Petar Sucic, 21, and presumably Marseille’s 23-year-old Brazilian winger Luis Henrique, a highly regarded player.

The boss continued, “We are aware that we must sign more.” The entire club is with us.

They simply couldn’t handle PSG’s speed, energy, movement, and invention on Saturday. Federico Dimarco’s left-back performance in the opening two goals was questionable despite having been shooed off long before PSG began recording record-setting goals.

Even though the title was up for grabs, several of their starters were restrained for the final day of the Serie A season. That day, Inter did well to win the title, but Napoli did.

“We were more exhausted than PSG tonight.” We struggled with our game. We didn’t come from scratch, Inzaghi said.

“They were present on the second balls always.” Up until Friday, we played our league. A few months in advance, they won their league.

However, if they do decide a refresh is necessary, they will need to look up clubs for some of their players. None of Munich’s starting XI has a contract until the summer.

Its starting XI in a Champions League final was the third oldest, with an average of 30 years and 242 days. Players on PSG were 146 days and five years older on average.

But who will oversee the reconstruction?

If Inter had won this, Inzaghi, who led Inter to the Serie A title and two Italian Cups last year, would have likely been regarded as one of the elite. He has a strong connection to Al-Hilal, a club in Saudi Arabia.

He made no attempt to deny the possibility that this could be his final game in charge at Friday’s pre-game press conference inside Allianz Arena.

And he didn’t commit either after the game.

He claimed that the moment is not the best to discuss my future. “We’re very disappointed,” the statement read. Talking about my future is awkward right now.

We’ll be addressing the fact that this year we didn’t win any silverware.

When asked if he would be in charge of the Club World Cup, which will begin next month, he replied, “I can’t answer this question now. [media] I came here to show my respect for you. From a sporting standpoint, I’m hurting.

“Defeats make you stronger,” he says. This has already occurred to us. Istanbul was a place where we lost, but we eventually won the league.

Former City defender Onuoha, “This is going to feel much worse for the Inter Milan players than their defeat in the 2023 final.”

“They did well in that game, but they didn’t offer anything tonight.

When you walk off the field in a game where you haven’t lost a player like that, I believe that is a real cause for concern.

Italian football journalist James Horncastle stated on BBC Radio 5 Live that Inter believed this to be their only missing element.

They must again observe another team savoring and boogie-making.

They have won a lot, but they have also lost a lot. But playing sports is just one thing.

Inzaghi remarked about the defeat suffered against City two years ago, saying, “We know defeats can make you stronger. Similar to the loss in Istanbul, tonight’s defeat hurts a lot. They were two entirely different matches.

“This has been handled,” the statement read. We can start moving forward together.

PSG’s opponents just completed a complete overhaul of their own, despite the fact that it was centered on egos rather than ages.

In recent years, the front three players who all seemed to be the stars, including Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappe, have all left the field.