PSG dismantle Inter for deserved European glory

Qatar finally win the Champions League. It should be an absurd sentence, but then this was a farce of a sporting contest. It was barely a football match, but an exhibition of superior power – in multiple senses.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

Paris Saint-Germain destroyed Internazionale 5-0, in what was factually and tonally the most one-sided final in history. No one, not even the great Real Madrid of 1960, had previously won by five goals before.

PSG consequently become the second club owned by a foreign state to have won the Champions League, with Inter having endured the misfortune of being beaten in both finals. If the squad felt pain after losing to Manchester City 1-0 in 2023, given they felt they should have won, there was only embarrassment here.

This isn’t to overly rebuke Inter, even if Simone Inzaghi got a lot wrong. The differences in the teams meant Inter again had to be pretty much perfect to have any kind of chance. They were very far from that, as PSG instead looked one of the most complete European champions ever.

Luis Enrique has done a supreme job in fashioning this team, to win both his second Champions League and a second treble. It is certainly difficult not to feel happy for him, an intense but good man. The tragic story of his daughter, who died in 2019 at the age of nine, adds such an emotional element to this victory. Enrique specifically planned to plant a PSG flag in the moment of victory, to echo the moment he shared with Xana in 2015. He was instead moved as PSG fans showcased a tifo recreating the scene, but in their colours. It was a touching moment.