An irresistible, undeniable Paris Saint-Germain ran riot in Munich on Saturday night, as they thumped Inter 5–0 in the 2025 Champions League final.
The Ligue 1 champions came of age in Bavaria as they completely overwhelmed an aging but wily Inter side that have now lost two Champions League finals in three years.
PSG were superb from back to front, and their collective brilliance helped them to a record-breaking triumph. Never before has any victor of this game won by a margin of five goals. This was utterly emphatic from Luis Enrique’s side.
Désiré Doué Shines on Grandest Stage
This remarkably young PSG side have grown throughout the knockout stages, with a 4–2 victory over Manchester City on the penultimate league phase matchday igniting their continental run.
On that sodden Parisian night in January, we were offered a glimpse of what Désiré Doué can supply. The winger, signed from Rennes last summer, has proven to be indispensable during the second half of the season.
The early glimmers have evolved into sustained sequences of magic, and the French teenager, soon turning 20, showed his best on the biggest stage in Munich. His fingerprints were all over Saturday’s final, especially in the first half. The winger, who roamed in harmony with his teammates in attack, popped up everywhere in a bid to influence proceedings.
A smart run in behind down the left facilitated his assist for Achraf Hakimi’s opener before he scored his deflected goal from the opposite side of the box eight minutes later. While PSG were superb as a unit, Doué’s individual display was worthy of further acclaim.
Simone Inzaghi’s Last Inter Outing?
This was surely the last hurrah for the oldest squad in this season’s Champions League. Inter, who were unfortunate to be beaten in Istanbul two years ago, failed to utilise that experience in Munich.
The Nerazzurri, deflated by missing out on the Scudetto on the final day, never had a sniff against a wonderful opponent. They’d bypassed Bayern Munich and Barcelona to get here, but PSG proved to be a bridge too far for Simone Inzaghi’s veterans.
Their telepathic combinations which so often allow them to bypass pressure with ease were sniffed out by PSG’s relentless man-markers, and their inability to get a foothold in proceedings contributed to an early deficit.
They’d barely been behind throughout the campaign, and the game state was unfavourable for a team content with enduring spells without the ball. PSG were only emboldened by Inter’s passivity, and Inzaghi’s side simply didn’t have enough possession to find a route back into the final.
Now, after a campaign without silverware and the nature of their defeat here, some will wonder whether Inzaghi has taken this team as far as he can. A mammoth offer is on the table from Al Hilal for the Italian manager, but he won’t be bowing out off the back of Champions League glory as José Mourinho did 15 years ago.
Culmination of the Qatari Project
Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) have finally reached the pinnacle. Their "project" didn’t solely exist for the purpose of achieving Champions League glory—well, they like to say that anyway—but there’s no overlooking that PSG’s victory in Munich was the culmination of what they set out to build in the French capital.
Their superstar-laden approach failed to result in the deliverance of their goals, and an alternate course was taken following the underwhelming reigns of Mauricio Pochettino and Christophe Galtier.
Wisely, they opted to hand Luis Enrique (and Luis Campos) the keys, and although the Spaniard delivered more of the same in Year 1, he has thrust this PSG team to the promised land in Year 2. The mental scars of cruel European defeats from years past have been masked by the fresh direction of their project. This is a team that combines genius technical work in possession with the ability to suffocate when they press. Remarkably, their potential was only realised in the new year after starting the league phase poorly.
There have been many contributing factors, from Enrique’s coaching to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s winter arrival, and they’ve led to Saturday’s triumph. This may not be an underdog story, but PSG deserve credit for their ego strip in favour of the direction they’ve taken.
