Bayern Munich are champions of Europe for the first time since 2013 after they beat PSG 1-0 in the Champions League final. A goal from young French international Kingsley Coman on the hour mark was enough to see the German giants prevail as the favourites for the competition came through.
The final itself was not vintage, there were many mistakes made by both teams, and that isn't easy on the eye when you consider the quality on the field, though the game did get better as it went on. For PSG the near £400m worth of talent oozing from Neymar and Kylain Mbappe hardly surfaced. Neymar had an early chance, a double shot being saved by the incredible Manuel Neuer who looks a shoe in for World player of the year now. Sadly for Neymar apart from a few darting runs he faded as the game went on and even though he was up ended on a few occasions, there was one moment towards the end of the game where it appeared he feigned a foul, which will bring the Brazilian no new fans.
He wasn't the only one though, in a game that was riddled with mistakes and stop starts, there was nearly 40 fouls. Robert Lewandowski the Bayern striker and arguably the best forward in Europe spent most of the time making friends with the turf instead of doing what he does best. He had one decent effort that hit the post in the first half.
Goals and end-to-end play was expected by these two teams, but we only got one and much of the play especially in the second half was dictated by the pace that Bayern wanted the game to be played at. In that respect this match replicated more their Lyon semi final encounter rather than an exciting swashbuckling quarterfinal victory over Barcelona, perhaps in a final with so much on the line that was never going to happen.
The irony that it would be Coman to win the game and break PSG hearts cannot be lost on most. Coman was born in Paris and has supported PSG his whole life. Had PSG been more self aware maybe the talents of the youngster would be plying his trade with them instead of in Germany. What was evident was that when Bayern scored, PSG did not then inevitably attack and take hold of the game, that's when you knew we were only going to see one winner as Bayern looked for a 2nd goal. True, late on, PSG created a great chance with Mbappe's daring run but it would have felt somehow unjust and the better team did win in the end.
Neymar's tears flowed at the final whistle but Thomas Tuchel the PSG coach remained very dignified even though he was clearly in pain with his foot injury as he collected his runners up medal.
The final was still historic for French football given that this was just the 2nd time since the formation of the Champions League that a French side had made the final. Marseille are the only winners from France, which they achieved in 1993 and their fans who have a huge rivalry with PSG would have been more than pleased with the outcome. As for Bayern they say the cream rises to the top and certainly this year it has, they are well deserving champions who can attack with awesome power but also defend when they need too – a great all round team.
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