THE UCL FINAL!

Paris Saint-Germain 0–1 Bayern München

UCL Final

August 23, 2020

Lisbon, Portugal

The Champions League final--the European championship--took place yesterday, and boy did it live up to its hype. With both PSG and Bayern Munich having gone unbeaten in their Champions League campaign up to the final, you always knew the game would be full of quality and technique. 

Bayern would go on to win the final, with a sole Kingsley Coman header at 59’ being the deciding factor. Here are three points to take from this game.

1. Where was Mbappe?

Bayern have always been known to play with a high defensive line, with Alfonso Davies using his pace to run up and down the field. That being said, Jerome Boateng and David Alaba are not quite as fast, and It was expected that Kylian Mbappe would use his pace to get in behind the defence. He did on those occasions, but he never got into the groove. 

Having a golden opportunity on the stroke of half time, where Alaba gave a poor pass, Mbappe miraculously fluffed his lines, with a tame shot straight into the arms of Manuel Neuer. It was a miss that cost his team dearly, as they only needed one goal to take the game to extra time. It wasn't the only chance that Mbappe had that evening, however, because in the 90th minute, Mbappe was given a pass by Neymar, through a crowd of Bayern players. From 7 yards out, he shot it right to Neuer again, just before he was deemed offside.

Admittedly, it was an incredible save on Neuer’s part, but you would have bet that Mbappe would have tucked it away from that distance into the corner.

2. An Era of Greatness?

Bayern came to the final as favorites, and they did not disappoint. You would find it hard to argue against Bayern being the best team in the world at the moment, and they don't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Bayern have young talent, such as Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, and of course the teenager Alfonso Davies. Hansi Flick has done an incredible job in his first year as manager, by winning the treble: the Bundesliga championship, the DFB Pokal, and now the Champions League. 

You would expect Bayern never to let go of Davies, or to make his transfer price very high. Fullbacks such as Davies are hard to find, and when a club has a young fullback, they are usually reluctant to sell them. He is definitely one of the fastest players on the planet, and he will only improve as time goes on. In the final, he showed a sense of maturity with the way that he played, making good tackles and choices. He stayed cool, even when he received a yellow card relatively early in the game. There is the slight issue of Robert Lewendawski’s age, as he is 32 now. However, he is in the form of his career and no doubt has a few years at the top level still. 

If Bayern are able to keep their star players and continue to compete for the champions league like they have done this year, no doubt you could be looking at a football dynasty.

3. What next for PSG?

Having come so close to the pinnacle of football, PSG have failed to win the Champions league yet again. Yes, this time they have made it to the final, but you get the sense that this was a disappointment for the Parisians. They didn't seem to have the flair and intensity that brought them to the final. Ander Herrera was PSG’s best player, dictating the tempo and getting some incredible passes, most notably the pass to Angel Di Maria for a shot on goal.

The amount of oil money that the Qataris have invested into the club (as I'm sure they aren't investing in them just to win Ligue 1 every year) is a disappointment. It may be the best chance that PSG have in a long time, of winning it. With the pandemic, UEFA have ruled out the second-legs from the knockout stage. PSG have capitalised on that, easily going through the knockout phase into the final. With UEFA making plans to return to normal, you would think that this has been their best opportunity of winning it in recent memory. 

I'm not saying that PSG are not going to be back, challenging for the Champions League. They very well may. All I'm saying is that if they want to be back next year, and the year after that, they need to convince the players to stay. That may be hard to do, however, as players may get the sense that “The grass is greener on the other side,” and may want to find other challenges elsewhere. Only time will tell.