Paris Saint-Germain is hoping to win the Champions League for the first time, but a gritty and battle-hardened Inter Milan team stands in their way in Saturday's final in Munich.
The European season's finale has produced an enticing confrontation of divergent team-building philosophies and methods. It's a showdown between one of the continent's old guard and a state-owned modernized superclub.
PSG became heavyweights since Qatar Sports Investments acquired the majority of shares in what was once a financially unstable French club and began working to make Paris a powerful force on the football scene. Despite massive investment, PSG has never won the most prestigious award in European club football.
This is only their second final since Qatar took over the team from the French capital in 2011. Despite having Kylian Mbappe and Neymar up front, they lost the final against Bayern Munich behind closed doors in Lisbon in 2020 due to the pandemic.
But this season, Luis Enrique's energetic young Paris team has swept the continent. A spectacular comeback victory over 2023 champions Manchester City in January sparked a fantastic run in which PSG defeated three more Premier League giants, Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Arsenal on their way to the final.
With 33 goals in all competitions, Ousmane Dembele has taken the lead, with the capable assistance of Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who joined recently. Along with Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Achraf Hakimi, who started at Real Madrid and later moved to Borussia Dortmund and then to Inter, is arguably the "world's best full-back", with his 8 goals contribution has made a significant impact on the French league and cup champions' run to the final.
"We want to be the first ones in Paris to win the Champions League and make history.", said the Spanish coach.
Image credit:- PSG Official website.