UEFA Champions League final: Paris Saint-Germain look to repeat history in order to make their own as battle-hardened Inter stand in their way
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Updated 31/05/2025 at 10:20 GMT+1
Internazionale stand between Paris Saint-Germain and a place in the history books as they face off in the UEFA Champions League final at Allianz Arena in Munich, live on TNT Sports and discovery+. The French side go in as favourites but have never won the competition, and face an Inter side no stranger to upsetting the odds.
Road to Munich: How Inter and PSG reached Champions League final
Video credit: TNT Sports
Football fans from France and Italy are travelling in huge numbers, descending on Munich, preparing to watch their teams take part in the final of Europe’s premier club football competition.
The showpiece match - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - sees the Ligue 1 champions searching for a first UEFA Champions League title against a Milanese side with a storied history in the tournament.
While this is the scene today, the scenario was, curiously, almost exactly the same back in 1993.
On May 26 that year, Marseille took on AC Milan at the Olympiastadion, where Basile Boli’s 44th-minute header was enough for the French side to eke out a historic 1-0 win.
Marseille's victory is the only time a French side has lifted the famous old trophy, and 32 years on, despite the animosity between the two clubs, Paris Saint-Germain are on the brink of emulating their domestic rivals, with Inter, rather than AC Milan, as their final obstacle.
Having battled through the league phase to make the play-offs, PSG dispatched compatriots Brest with some ease, before wins over Premier League trio Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal as Luis Enrique’s side went from strength to strength.
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Despite the parallels with Marseille’s triumph way back when, the football landscape has changed dramatically in the three decades since.
The competition itself that year was the first incarnation of the UEFA Champions League following the rebranding of the old European Cup, and has since undergone several changes to become the footballing behemoth it is today.
Back then, the tournament was mainly contested by champions of respective countries, whereas now, one nation can send as many as six teams to compete.
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The Olympiastadion, while still standing as a famous sporting monument in the city, is no longer Munich’s main stadium, with this year’s final hosted at the state-of-the-art Allianz Arena, opened in 2005.
Finally, back in 1993, PSG could boast just a single Ligue 1 title and two Coupes de France, but in the time since, they have become France’s most decorated side, and now seek to add Europe’s top prize to their trophy cabinet, consequently establishing their position amongst the continent’s elite.
PSG’s growth as a team is very much attributed to their takeover by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, increasing their spending power and leading to the club dominating the domestic scene.
The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edison Cavani, David Luiz, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi, among others, all arrived at the Parc des Princes for huge fees and/or huge wages previously unheard of in the French league, and has seen the club win 11 of the last 13 Ligue 1 titles.
But the Champions League crown is the prize that eludes them, and one that each and every one of the boisterous travelling supporters in Munich craves more than any.
And while the club has tasted European success in the form of the now-defunct UEFA European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996, they suffered defeat in their only other Champions League final appearance, losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich in 2020.
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Most games played without winning the UEFA Champions League/European Cup
| Team | Matches |
| Arsenal | 211 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 185 |
| Atletico Madrid | 176 |
| PSG | 167 |
A return to the final has come amid something of a strategic change at the club. While still heavy spenders, the glitz and glamour of trying to build around star names seems to be a thing of the past.
Enrique and the club have adopted a more shrewd approach, still splashing more cash than anyone else in France by some distance, but after Mbappe’s exit in the summer, there is less of a focus on acquiring the biggest names in the sport.
The arrivals of William Pacho (22), Desire Doue (19), Joao Neves (19) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (23) over the last year suggest a focus on younger talents.
Indeed, they boast the fourth-youngest average age of starting line-ups in this year’s Champions League competition at 24 years and 262 days old.
Youngest teams in 2024/25 UEFA Champions League
| Team | Average Starting Age |
| Strum Graz | 23 years 320 days |
| Sporting CP | 24 years 8 days |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 24 years 181 days |
| PSG | 24 years 262 days |
The exuberance of youth on the pitch is also complemented by a one-time wonderkid in Ousmane Dembele, who is enjoying the best season of his professional career and could even be in line to win this year’s Ballon d’Or.
With a collective 33 goals in the competition, this attack-minded, forward-thinking team has been described in some quarters as more ‘likeable’ than PSG iterations of the recent past, and one that people wouldn’t begrudge a moment of glory on the grandest stage.
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Inter look to make up for recent failures
Standing between them and history, however, is an Inter side who very much possess the stature that PSG aspire to.
The Nerazzuri’s European pedigree stretches back to the 1960s, when they won back-to-back European Cups in 1963/64 and 1964/65, and while they had to wait until 2009/10 for their third crown, they also have three UEFA Cups to brag about from the 1990s.
They arrive at the Allianz off the back of wins against Bayern Munich and Barcelona in the quarters and semis, respectively – two ties many would have expected them to lose.
So while they head into the final as underdogs, it’s not a tag that will phase Simone Inzaghi’s charges in the slightest.
They may not be favourites, but they will believe that their reputation and history will count for something.
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Inter do, however, play the match potentially still reeling from the disappointment of missing out on Serie A title on the final day of the season, having earlier been in control of the title race until a springtime stumble.
The club will also have the Champions League final from just two years ago fresh in their minds, when they fell to Manchester City, losing 1-0 in Istanbul.
That loss was the first and only defeat in a final under Inzaghi, having won two Coppas Italia, as well as three Supercoppas under his charge, and with much of the 2023 squad still in place, the players will be determined to make it second time lucky as far this competition is concerned.
In contrast to PSG, Inter’s average age of starting line-ups is a near-geriatric 30 years and 19 days (the next oldest in this year's competition were SK Slovan Bratislava at 28 years 360 days), so experience will be on their side.
Few in blue and black will ever forget the last-gasp equaliser from 37-year-old Francesco Acerbi against Barcelona, ultimately setting the course for their eventual victory.
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'Never seen anything like this!' - Acerbi hammers home dramatic last-gasp equaliser
Video credit: TNT Sports
One could argue that a group of players in and around their prime might be more hungry for success than the young upstarts with years in front of them.
On the benches, Inzaghi will not want to lose a second final in the competition while Enrique will be hoping to join an elite group of managers to lift the trophy with two different clubs having previously done so with Barcelona.
Managers to win the UEFA Champions League with two different clubs
| Manager | Clubs |
| Carlo Ancelotti | AC Milan (2003, 2007), Real Madrid (2014, 2022, 2024) |
| Ottmar Hitzfeld | Borussia Dortmund (1997), Bayern Munich (2001) |
| Jupp Heynckes | Real Madrid (1998), Bayern Munich (2013) |
| Jose Mourinho | Porto (2004), Inter (2010) |
| Pep Guardiola | Barcelona (2009, 2011), Manchester City (2023) |
The stage is set with Munich and Allianz Arena as the backdrop. Including the Olympiastadion, this will be the fifth occasion the city plays host to a European Cup or Champions League final.
As an omen for PSG, each of the previous four produced a first-time winner: Nottingham Forest in 1979, Marseille in 1993, Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and Chelsea in 2012. It’s up to Inter to break that trend.
On Saturday evening, we’ll see if PSG can make history by repeating history, or if Inter can upset the odds to restore their standing on the biggest stage.
Thoughts?