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A Bavarian beauty contest brings a quandary as old as time. Will fortune favour the youthful swagger and daring of Paris Saint-Germain or the refined cunning of an experienced Inter, whose legs simply refuse to tighten up? The Champions League final is guaranteed to throw up a relatively fresh winner through a clash of styles and approaches that tantalises more than any that this occasion has staged in the past decade.
It is hard not to be compelled by Luis Enrique’s remoulded PSG side, even if reservations about their Qatari ownership and utter dominance of Ligue 1 will colour perceptions. Their calibration away from the narcissism of modern-day galacticos, in favour of a fearless younger cast who understand the value of hard work, has in fact had the effect of creating new stars.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s maverick feats with Napoli had hardly taken place in the shadows, but coruscating displays on this stage open up an infinitely vaster audience. The 19-year-old Désiré Doué has a joy and freedom to his game that his Premier League peers may envy; Bradley Barcola’s flair for self-expression is not far behind. Ousmane Dembélé, once seemingly destined to nestle a notch or two below the elite, is a player transformed, with 33 goals in all competitions. “We have to finish the job because what we’re really aiming for is to make history,” said Luis Enrique in the buildup.
A PSG side managed by Thomas Tuchel, spearheaded by Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, were thwarted by their old boy Kingsley Coman in their previous final appearance five years ago. It has taken longer than intended for PSG, bought by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, to scale the summit; they are almost at the very peak now and it has been no small achievement to make them likable.
“Our goal was to gradually create something different, something special,” Luis Enrique said. “Something that could attract players and make them want to come to Paris”. Few would turn their noses up at joining the collective forged by a manager who led Barcelona to win this competition in 2015. He has created a midfield whose technique and acumen bears at least faint resemblance to the Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta triumvirate of yore, a frontline encouraged to lean into its capacity for producing the unexpected.
They face an Inter team whose individual gifts are more familiar. There is something of the old-school Serie A about Simone Inzaghi’s side, although that is not to overlook their capacity to construct moves of sweeping beauty. They can pass through lengthy periods of a match barely noticed, before surfacing to land a decisive blow. Lautaro Martínez fizzes with emphatic, relentless Argentinian intensity; Marcus Thuram is a swift, smart accomplice, and then there are the wiles of those further back. They will probably not dominate the ball, but nor will they eschew it to the extent José Mourinho encouraged when they last ruled Europe in 2010.
Inter will field a starting XI whose average age is around 31, but they never stop. The sensational equaliser scored by Francesco Acerbi, the 37-year-old defender, in the semi-final second leg against Barcelona stopped even the most jaded observer in their tracks. Henrikh Mkhitaryan has discovered a Benjamin Button quality at 36 and it is worth remembering that the goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who is the same age, was not fancied by Bayern Munich.
“I asked during the week for concentration and determination, but not obsession,” Inzaghi told his audience inside the Allianz Arena. “We must be free, free of mind and preparing in the best possible way”. The spectre of Inter’s defeat against Manchester City in Istanbul two years ago, a game they could have won, looms but must not preoccupy. Nor should questions about Inzaghi’s future, even though there is persistent speculation he will leave this summer. To assist the task at hand, he has a fully fit squad for just the fourth time this season.
Only 18,000 fans of either club have tickets for the game but many more have poured into a sun-soaked Munich. The security operation is predictably extensive and is being mirrored in Paris, where 40,000 PSG supporters will watch a televised feed at Parc des Princes and around 15,000 are due to attend a screening at Roland Garros. Around 5,400 officers will be operating in Paris throughout Saturday evening.
Whether they are overseeing fervent celebrations or a night of misery depends squarely on tonight’s tussle between the tyros and the tested.
