As Paris Saint-Germain defeated Inter Milan 5-0 in the UEFA Champions League final at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Thomas Hitzelsperger and Nicky Bandini applaud Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s workrate as the team’s “first line of defense.”
PSG 5-0 Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League Final.
Desire Doue, 19, becomes the youngest player to score two goals in a Champions League final against Inter Milan 5-0 at the Allianz Arena in Munich, is praised by Nedum Onuoha and Nicky Bandini for their maturity.
PSG 5-0 Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League Final.
Yoon Suk-yeol, who was impeached and removed from office in South Korea after his unsuccessful and brief attempt to enter martial law in December, is being considered for election by voters.
The snap election on June 3 is pivotal, with implications for South Korea’s democratic future, as well as its ties with China, the United States and its nuclear armed neighbour, North Korea.
The winner will have to address the aftermath of the martial law decree, which lasted for six hours but caused widespread protests, a court riot, and three interim leaders in six months.
The new president will also have to deal with the US, which has imposed a 25% levy on important exports like steel, aluminum, and cars, as a result of the country’s continuing economic slump.
Here’s what you need to know about the June 3 poll:
Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DP) and Kim Moon-soo of the ruling, conservative People Power Party (PPP) are the two front-runners in the election.
The clear front-runner is Lee, 61, a lawyer-turned-politician who specializes in human rights.
According to a Gallup Korea poll conducted on May 28, 49% of respondents voted for the liberal candidate, and 36% said they would support Kim, 73, a staunch conservative who served as labour minister under Yoon’s administration.
Trailing in third place is Lee Jun-seok of the conservative New Reform Party, at 9 percent.
The race has been hampered by Yoon’s shoddy martial law campaign.
It put Lee, who lost the last election to Yoon in 2022, back on track for the presidency.
The opposition’s leader played a key role in thwarting the president’s plan. Lee rushed to the National Assembly and climbed the walls of the building to avoid the hundreds of armed troops deployed there on December 3, when Yoon declared martial law in a bid to overthrow the Democratic Party-dominated parliament, which he characterized as “anti-state” and a “den of criminals.” He livestreamed his exploit, urging supporters to come to the parliament and prevent the arrest of legislators.
Despite the troop blockades, enough legislators voted in favor of putting an end to martial law in the legislature. On December 14, the assembly proceeded to remove Yoon from office.
“This election would not have happened if not for the declaration of martial law by Yoon Suk-yeol and his impeachment”, said Youngshik Bong, research fellow at Yonsei University in Seoul. “All others have sucked in these issues like a vortex,” he said. The rest is “minor” everything.
On the campaign trail, Lee has pledged to bring to justice anyone involved in Yoon’s failed bid and has also promised to introduce tighter controls on the president’s ability to declare martial law.
The opposition leader, Lee, has also suggested constitutional amendments to establish a four-year, two-term presidency. Currently, South Korean presidents are only permitted to serve for a five-year term. Lee has also argued for a run-off system for presidential elections, whereby if no candidate secures 50 percent of the popular vote, the top two candidates take on each other in a second round.
He wrote on Facebook, calling for a constitutional amendment to permit the change, saying that a four-year, two-term presidency would allow for a midterm evaluation of the administration and reinforce responsibility. Adopting a run-off election system would, in addition, strengthen democratic governance and prevent unnecessary social conflict, according to  .
The PPP’s Kim has accepted Lee’s proposals for a constitutional amendment to allow a two-term presidency, but has suggested shortening each term to three years.
However, Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law has caused chaos and chaos in the PPP.
The troubled party attempted to pick the impeached president’s replacement, but there was conflict in the process. Although Kim won the party primary, its leaders tried to replace him with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Kim’s candidacy was cancelled the day before the party’s campaign launch, only to be reinstated after party members objected.
Its support, according to Bong, at Yonsei University, has been exacerbated by the conflict and divisions in the conservative camp over Yoon’s decree.
“Kim Moon-soo has not set his position clearly on the martial law declaration”, Bong said. He has not distanced himself from Yoon’s legacy, but he has not stated informally whether he thinks the declaration of martial law violated the constitution. Therefore, the PPP hasn’t really had the resources to mobilize its supporters.
Still, Kim appears to have eroded what was a more than 20 percent point gap with Lee at the start of the campaign.
However, he has failed to persuade Lee Jun-seok, the third-placed candidate, to back the PPP to improve its chances. Lee, a 40-year-old member of the New Reform Party, stated on Tuesday that there would be “no candidate merger” with “those responsible for the emergency martial law.”
The outcome of the election may change South Korea’s attitude toward North Korea, despite the backseat of policy debates. Since the Korean War of 1950-1953 ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, the two neighbors are technically at war, and ties between them are at an all-new low.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for rewriting his country’s constitution to scrap the longstanding goal of unifying the war-divided nations and described Seoul as an “invariable principal enemy”. Additionally, Pyongyang and Pyongyang have severed communication lines, and they have engaged in hostilities over drones and balloons carrying propaganda.
If elected, Lee of the Democratic Party will ease tensions, including by establishing a military hotline, and will continue to work toward the elimination of nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
Kim, however, has backed Yoon’s hardline approach, promising to secure “pre-emptive deterrence” through tools such as ballistic missiles and the redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons. He has stated that he will also pursue nuclear armament by obtaining the right to reprocess nuclear fuel, a crucial step in the development of atomic weapons.
The two candidates’ views on China, the country’s largest trading partner, and the US, their most significant security ally, differ.
Lee, who espouses what he calls a pragmatic foreign policy, has said it is crucial to maintain South Korea’s alliance with the US and pursue security cooperation with Japan. He has, however, pledged to prioritize “national interests” and stated that “no need to unnecessarily antagonize China or Russia.”
Kim has also promised to meet with US President Donald Trump right away to discuss tariffs and has questioned Lee’s commitment to the US-South Korea alliance.
“I have a very friendly and trusting relationship”, with the US leader, Kim has said.
Trump has long demanded that more of the cost of stationing US troops be shared, something he has also indicated he is willing to do so.
Some people find Lee Sung-yoon, a board member of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, to be “immutable” about the policy differences between the opposing camps because he has previously made comments about China and Russia.
“In the past, Lee has said South Korea should not get involved in China’s posture towards Taiwan, and just say thank you to both Beijing and Taiwan and stay out of the conflict. He described the trilateral defensive exercises as “a defence disaster” and an “extremely pro-Japanese act” between the US, Japan, and South Korea. And more than once, he claims that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, eluded Russian intervention because of his disparaging statements.
The analyst said Lee has – over the course of the election campaign – tried to walk back some of his statements in a bid to appeal to more moderate voters.
However, he said, “I would venture to assume that those in the councils of power in Washington, DC, Tokyo, or Kyiv, Ukraine, are not overly optimistic about the possibility of a Lee administration.”
Koreans overseas have already cast their ballots, and early voting took place on Thursday and Friday. The two front-runners were among the large numbers who cast ballots early.
The nation’s 52 million people are eligible to cast ballots, according to the National Election Commission, which has 44.4 million people there. On election day, which is a public holiday, polling stations will open at 6am (22: 00 GMT) and close at 8pm (20: 00 GMT).
The winner will be revealed that evening or early the following day, and counting will begin right away. Even if they don’t receive 50% of the votes, the candidate who receives the most votes will still be regarded as the winner.
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.
Following their 5-0 defeat to Paris St-Germain in the Champions League final at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Nicky Bandini explains how an aging squad and Simone Inzaghi’s offer of a managerial position in Saudi Arabia could herald the start of a team rebuild.
PSG 5-0 Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League Final.
Comedian and TV star Romesh Ranganathan has recalled how his perfect upbringing was turned upside down when his dad Ranga who was imprisoned for fraud. Romesh was a teenager living in Crawley at the time and attending private school, when he and his younger brother and mother were forced to move out of the family home and live in a Bed & Breakfast for some time. Romesh recalled: “My dad had fallen into financial trouble. What it turns out is that he’d lost his job and he was trying to make money in this sort of Sri Lankan Del Boy way, and it wasn’t working out.
And he was unable to make their house’s mortgage payments. And they were unable to afford the tuition at the school I was enrolling in, even with my scholarship.
Matters came to a head when it became apparent Ranga had also been having an affair and when he disappeared for several days, Romesh was tasked with asking the ‘other women’ where his dad was, on behalf of his anxious mother. Romesh said: “She tells us that my dad had been arrested three days previously, and he had been involved in some sort of fraud case. I don’t know why we’d not heard, why he’d not got in touch, but this lady knew. “He ended up going to prison for two years, or just under two years. You know, I remember my dad being convicted and going to prison the day before my birthday. I think it’s my 15th birthday. And so my friends are having a party for me. I just went and pretended that wasn’t going on because you want some normalcy. “Because for a while, we moved out of the house, and then a counsellor gave us a room in a bed and breakfast.” Romesh told Lauren Laverne on Desert Island Discs that he would regularly hear his mum crying in this period, and she managed to provide for her sons by getting a job as a cleaner. His father did come back to the family home when he was released from prison and they patched up their relationship over time. Romesh said: “On my dad’s 60th birthday, by that time, our relationship had really kind of improved. I’d had kids at that point, and I saw the way that my dad was being with my children.
We are in a really good place, and I was like, “I’ve never seen this side of my dad.” My dad’s memory recalls resembles a torn tornado.
His parents came to the UK from Sri Lanka and Romesh pays tribute to his mother Sivashanthini – known as Shanthi – who kept the family together during his father’s absence. Romesh admits that he didn’t appreciate the sacrifices she made at the time.
Shanthi has since gone on to appear alongside her son on television where she has proved to be a funny and observant sidekick. Romesh believes his late father would have been proud of Shanthi’s role as, what he laughingly describes as, “one of the safest hands in British comedy.”
He speaks openly on the Radio 4 programme about his struggles with mental health which started around the time he took his A-Levels. He tells Lauren that he has thought about taking his own life more than once and explains that he saw it as a solution to his emotional turmoil. He reveals that he’s experienced serious dark periods at several points during his life but has learned how to manage those times. He says that he talks about the experiences he has been through on stage but explains that talking about it comes with responsibility. “You got to be careful because it’s triggering,” he said. “I’m trying to destigmatise (mental health) but you do also have to be mindful of the fact that people may have been affected by that and then if I suddenly say I had thoughts about taking my own life and somebody’s lost someone through that or they’ve had those moments themselves, you have to be sensitive to that and you don’t always get it right but I think the rewards outweigh the risks.” Rarely off screen, Romesh has presented travel programmes and documentaries, starred in his own sitcom and hosts the Weakest Link on BBC One. He also presents Radio Two’s Saturday morning show and another weekly Radio Two programme in which he shares his love of hip hop music, which make up many of his choices when it comes to Desert Island Discs.
Romesh addressed his reputation for having a busy workload, he says there is no game plan, he just does “whatever feels good”. He reveals that he is thinking about taking, what he calls, a step back. Romesh added: “I want to be at home a bit more.”
“And by the way, this is not a retirement announcement, but I do feel like, relatively recently, this is quite unexpected that we are talking at this time because I have just entered a period of thought where I will probably just be a little more measured in what I do going forward. And I believe I might make a bigger break between bits.
My next stand-up idea might be the result of a stroll through the park. Who knows, I need to replenish my reserves? Eminem, Public Enemy, and Stevie Wonder are among his music selections on the show.
On Radio 4 and BBC Sounds today (Sunday) on Desert Island Discs and Radio 4 and BBC Sounds, you can hear the full interview with Romesh and his song choices.