The quest for Paris Saint Germain to win their first Champion’s League goes on.
They failed at their first ever final, beaten by a superior Bayern Munich team that has now won all 11 of its Champion’s League games this season, which is a phenomenal and unprecedented record.
The game, billed as a goal-fest between two sides that have scored 69 goals in the UCL this season, produced only one goal. That was scored, ironically, by a Frenchman who was part of the PSG youth academy, and who left after playing 3 games for the PSG first team. Coman is the youngest player to play for PSG at the age of 16 years, eight months and four days. When Qatar Sports Investments signed worldwide stars, they were content to let go of Kingsley Coman, a left winger who punished his former side with a delicately placed header off a perfectly weighted Joshua Kimmich cross. Coman was unmarked for the header which gave Navas no chance as it dropped into the far corner. In the end it was a simple goal that killed Paris’ grand dreams. In doing so, Coman became the first player in the history of the competition to score against a former club in the final.
PSG keeper Navas had played well, while Munich’s keeper Neuer was superb in keeping the triple threat of Neymar, Mbappe and Di Maria at bay. PSG were not without chances: at crucial junctures in the first half Neuer made a double-save off Neymar, Di Maria shot over, Mbappe hit a tame shot when the goal beckoned, and Marquinhos was denied by Neuer’s trailing leg. Neymar and Mbappe put in the effort, but could not find the goal and it was the first time in 35 European games that PSG did not score. Munich’s Robert Lewandowski was a threat, hitting the post in the first half, but he could not find the net.
For Bayern, it’s been an incredible turnaround since Hansi Flick took over as coach in late 2019. Bayern have done the Bundesliga and German Cup double, and now they have secured the the Big Ears trophy, becoming the first team to go unbeaten throughout their UCL campaign. It’s a phenomenal record indeed. They match Liverpool’s 6 titles and are only behind AC Milan (7) and Real Madrid (13).
