Champions League Final Preview

Karan Ahgun

— 3 min read
Champions League Final Preview

Paris Saint Germain face Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Munich on Saturday night. Both teams have played UCL finals in recent years, with Inter being beaten by Manchester City in 2023 and PSG being beaten by Bayern Munich in 2020. But who can learn from the mistakes of the past and be victorious this year?

PSG have beaten all the English clubs on their way to the final quite convincingly and will hope to continue their excellent Champions League form on Saturday night. There was a stage during the new league phase where the French team were in danger of getting knocked out altogether but they were able to get their act together and put down a run which has probably established them as the best team of this year's tournament. Now PSG are on the verge of completing the treble, should they win the final. They have match winners all over the pitch and can pose different threats to Inter Milan on the night. Kvara Kvaratskhelia, Desiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé have been excellent as a front 3 in the run to the final, and are critical for PSG's success on Saturday. They have quality in every position of the pitch and it could be difficult for Inter to nullify all of PSG's threats simultaneously but Simone Inzaghi has shown an ability to produce a game plan to win at all costs.

Inter Milan were on course to complete a treble a few weeks ago, but were beaten to the Serie A title by Napoli and were knocked out of the Coppa Italia semi-final by AC Milan. Now the Champions League is Inter's only avenue for silverware this season and are certainly a great match up for PSG. The Nerazzurri's semi-final performance against Barcelona in the semi-finals was evidence that they are not just a streetwise team but can go toe-to-toe with the best attacking teams. They could be forced to adopt a similar gung-ho approach to match PSG's intensity, and could also rely on Yann Sommer to make crucial saves as he did against Barcelona. Denzel Dumfries, Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez are likely to be the most important players for Inter in an attacking sense, with the battle between Dumfries and Nuno Mendes seeming to be well-contested.

This season's Champions League final has all the makings of being one of the most exciting in a while. Both teams have the ability to hurt each other with their variety in attacking threat, and both are well matched. Neutrals will be hoping for a basketball type match on Saturday night, kind of like the match between Inter Milan and Barcelona. In any case, it is certainly an intriguing match and one that is difficult to call!

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