The footballing world descends upon Munich on Saturday night, as Paris Saint-Germain and Inter lock horns in the 2025 Champions League final.
Simone Inzaghi’s side were on the cusp of elimination in the semifinals when Raphinha completed Barcelona’s stunning turnaround, but Francesco Acerbi’s stoppage-time strike set the stage for Davide Frattesi’s extra-time winner to cap off one of the all-time great Champions League knockout ties.
There was considerably less drama in the other fixture, as PSG held off a spirited Arsenal performance in Paris to advance into just their second final. After a sluggish start to the competition, Luis Enrique’s youthful and technically brilliant outfit have perhaps been the continent’s most potent force during the second half of the season.
They can complete the quadruple tonight, while Inter are hoping to overcome domestic disappointment having missed out on Scudetto glory on the final day.
Enrique has refused to tinker all that much during PSG’s imperious knockout stage run, and we can easily predict their starting lineup for Saturday’s final.
The Spaniard opted for a strong team in last week’s French Cup final, with only Gianluigi Donnarumma and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia earning rests among the players poised to start in Munich. The Georgian winger will likely replace Bradley Barcola in PSG’s front three.
Ousmane Dembélé will assume his role as false nine again, with Désiré Doué completing their fearsome attack complemented by flying full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes.
Presnel Kimpembe is the only player poised to miss out through injury.
Inter Milan’s captain Lautaro Martínez hobbled his way through the semifinal second leg against Barcelona with a hamstring injury but had a major say in the outcome of the contest.
The striker is fully fit for the final, and he’ll team up with Frenchman Marcus Thuram up top.
Inter have had a few injury scares leading into the final, with Yann Bisseck picking up a knock against Como last Friday.
However, the young defender is expected to be fine to feature. The same goes for Benjamin Pavard and Piotr Zieliński. Despite their injury setbacks, the pair will be available this weekend.
Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco will occupy the wing-back roles, while Hakan Çalhanoglu, Nicolò Barella and Henrikh Mkhitaryan will function in Inter’s engine room.
Munich’s knack for facilitating first-time Champions League winners is a good omen for PSG, who have been outstanding in 2025 and are understandably the favourites to win the final.
Inzaghi’s men have been here before. They know what to expect having reached the final in 2023.
For many of this young and exuberant PSG squad, this a new experience. Perhaps such familiarity will work in Inter’s favour, but they shouldn’t be backed solely for that reason.
They boast the requisite compactness and attitude defensively to tame this brilliant PSG team, as well as the combination play in transition to expose the space Enrique’s side surrender if their counter-press is bypassed.
