Bayern Munich's journey to the Champions League title required “brutal” mental strength and focus during a rollercoaster season that saw a major team overhaul.
Sunday's 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain not only clinched a sixth European crown for Bayern, it also saw them become the first team to win all of their Champions League matches in a season.
THEY’VE DONE IT!
Ander Herrera, the 31-year-old midfielder who arrived at PSG last summer from Manchester United on a free transfer, knows a thing or two about the French club’s struggle for a paradigm shift following one ignominious European exit after another in recent years.
He was, after all, a part of the United team that unceremoniously dumped PSG out of the Champions League in the Round of 16 last season.
The 2019-20 UEFA Champions League final was a nerve-racking, back-and-forth contest that would’ve been greatly improved by both a PSG goal and fans in the stands. While it’s impossible to understand what happened to the finishing abilities of Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Ángel Di María in Lisbon, we all know exactly why supporters weren’t allowed inside Estádio da Luz.
Bayern Munich’s 1-0 victory over PSG in Sunday’s Champions League final brought a close to some long-drawn-out storylines that’ll largely return in 58 days time with the start of next season’s group stage.
With all the money spent by Paris Saint-Germain on this lavish, decade-long Champions League project, it’s a sensational piece of irony that Bayern Munich’s game-winning goal in Sunday’s final was scored by a PSG youth product, the Parisian Kingsley Coman.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney believes Paris Saint-Germain has the speed and skill to exploit Bayern Munich's high defensive line in Sunday's Champions League final and punish them in a way Lyon could not.
Lyon forwards Memphis Depay and Karl Toko Ekambi missed gilt-edged opportunities in the opening 16 minutes of a 3-0 defeat to Bayern in the semifinal on Wednesday and Rooney has warned that PSG's front three of Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Ángel Di María will not be so wasteful.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the single-game knockout format, used in the Champions League this year from the quarterfinal onwards, has produced more exciting football than the usual two-legged games and could be revisited in the future.
The format was changed in order to allow the competition to be completed in a shorter time-span after the COVID-19 pandemic halted play for several months across Europe in March.
Eight clubs headed to Lisbon and the final will be contested later on Sunday, pitting Bayern Munich against Paris St Germain.
LISBON — The biggest game in club football takes place in the Portuguese capital on Sunday, but walking around the cobbled streets of the city you could be forgiven for being oblivious to the impending Champions League final.
A giant replica of the European Cup at the Rossio square is the only clear sign of the big game that will take place across the city at the Estadio da Luz, between Bayern Munich and Paris-Saint Germain.
French clubs won both Women’s Champions League quarterfinals on Saturday, but it was an Englishwoman who provided the key moment for the defending champions.
Lyon, which scored 25 goals in the last two rounds, struggled to break down Bayern Munich, but a bit of bravery from Nikita Parris provided the breakthrough the UWCL holders needed to pull out a narrow 2-1 victory on Saturday at the San Mamés in Bilbao.
They've done it!
Kylian Mbappé and PSG will take part in their first Champions League final on Sunday, a highly anticipated clash with Bayern Munich. The two teams have by far been the best in Europe this season, with one loss between them in the entire competition. The two teams have plenty in common, from their connections to Barcelona’s failures to their shared domestic hegemony.