PSG vs Inter live updates: Champions League final confirmed team news and build-up – The New York Times

UCL
Advertisement
live
Updated 22s ago
Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan meet in the Champions League final in Munich, Germany today.
PSG are attempting to win European club soccer’s greatest prize for the first time, while Inter are looking to secure their fourth title.
PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, N Mendes, Neves, Vitinha, Fabian, Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.
Inter: Sommer, Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni, Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco, Thuram, L Martinez.
GO FURTHER
The ultimate Champions League final guide – PSG’s pacy pressing vs Inter’s intelligent defensive unit
Marcus Thuram’s such an unusual case. He really tailed off before leaving Borussia Monchengladbach and, if asked, I doubt many people who watched him in the Bundesliga would have seen his career developing as it has done.
But here he is and I do like his chances against that PSG defence.
Advertisement
Don't forget! In addition to European glory, the winner of today's match also gets a date with recently crowned Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Super Cup. That match will be played on August 13 at the home of Italian club Udinese, Stadio Friuli.
Acerbi's story was brilliantly told by James Horncastle before the 2023 final (you can read it at the link below) — his grief for his late father, turning up to training tipsy at Milan, then surviving a cancer diagnosis, taking him all the way to Istanbul.
It wasn't to be for him that night. Maybe it is in Munich. Stoppage-time goals by centre-halves have, curiously, provided the moments of the season. Acerbi's just about edges Maguire and Tarkowski's, for me. And personally, I'd love to see him on the end of another tonight.
GO FURTHER
Afraid of Haaland? After battling cancer, Inter’s Acerbi learned to live without fear
Francesco Acerbi, who scored Inter’s crucial late equaliser in the semi-final second leg against Barcelona, is the fourth-oldest outfield player to start a Champions League final, at the age of 37 years and 110 days. The only outfield players to start a UCL final at an older age:
There's been a lot of chat about the age of Inter's squad and the experience they have. Simone Inzaghi's squad is the oldest in this season's Champions League, while PSG are the fourth-youngest.
Two of PSG's stars in the competition have been a pair of their youngsters — Desire Doue (19) and Joao Neves (20), who both arrived for big fees last summer.
Doue becomes the youngest French player to ever start a Champions League final tonight, while Neves has made 57 tackles in the tournament this season, more than any other player.
B.. W.: Buzzing, this is the one of the most important games in the football calendar. The winners earn the right to play Tottenham in the Super Cup!
Tim K.: I'm an Inter supporter, so I'm obviously biased, but the Nerazzurri weren't favourites against Bayern or Barcelona, so not being the favourites tonight against PSG doesn't faze me. This is one of the only times the entire season that Inzaghi has the full squad at his disposal. A similar Inter team outplayed Man City in the Final two years ago (Lukaku seriously bottled it). I think this group is ready, and it's their time. My prediction is 3-1 Inter. Forza!
Captain L.: I want Inter to win but still intrigued most watchers in England think PSG are favourites. Must be the fact they played PL teams because getting past Barca and Bayern was far harder than Liverpool, Arsenal, Villa.
Remember, you can send us your thoughts, questions and predictions on today's match by emailing us at live@theathletic.com.
Advertisement
Quite a weird dynamic being at a stadium where everyone, with no exceptions, is supporting the same time. It’s lively and already almost completely full at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
Inter captain Lautaro Martinez knows a thing or two about winning major trophies, with the World Cup and Copa America (twice) among his honours in addition to those he's won with the Italian club. Ahead of today's final, Martinez characterized it as an opportunity to fill in a gap in his trophy cabinet.
💬 “I've won big trophies, but I'm missing the Champions League. I'm happy to be in another final. We want to have the perfect game and bring the trophy back to Milan.”
It really must be said that French sides have a terrible record in this competition — which the French effectively invented, as it happens.
Only one French team has won it, Marseille in 1993, and it's difficult to respect them too much considering they were stripped of that season's Ligue 1 title because of a bribery scandal. But even counting that success, French sides have won this tournament as many times as sides from Scotland, Romania or Yugoslavia (as it was then) and less than Nottingham Forest.
DAZN in Germany are having a pre-game chat about Yann Sommer and showing some of his highlights. Even the saves from the semi final alone are worthy of the feature — and the same would certainly be true of Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was outstanding in both games against Arsenal.
Are either team here without their goalkeeper?
We're just minutes away from the arrival of Linkin Park, the third Park to have featured in PSG's Champions League run, after Villa Park and, of course, the Parc des Princes.
It's the first final appearance for a Park since Manchester United's Ji-sung lost the 2011 final to Barcelona.
Advertisement
Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique previously won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015. Another victory today would make him just the seventh manager to win the trophy with two different clubs, along with:
Today's final marks the first-ever competitive meeting between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter, and only the second European Cup/Champions League final between French and Italian sides.
The first came in 1993, when Marseille beat AC Milan 1-0. That final was also played in Munich, though at the Olympiastadion. Marseille's 1993 title remains the only won by a French side in this competition.
The PSG fans unable to get tickets (and transport) for Munich are being allowed to watch on big screens inside Parc des Princes.
But tensions appear to be rising with massive queues outside the stadium as thousands of fans, sweltering in the evening heat and humidity, are still trying to get into the stadium.
Ahead of today's final, Inter manager Simone Inzaghi spoke about getting the opportunity to appear on this stage as a manager again, something he never got to do as a player.
💬 “I dreamed of playing the Champions League final. I didn't do it as a player, but thanks to this group of players it's the second in three years as a coach.
“The players are determined to win, not obsessed, we don't want that. We are proud to be Inter. We need to face Paris knowing there will be moments in which we'll suffer, and other moments when we'll have the ball and they'll need to defend. Details and moments are key.”
PSG's outfield players are finally out to warm-up, 40 minutes before kick-off and 12 minutes after their opponents came out to warm-up
That feels like quite a big difference.
Advertisement
In the 93rd minute, Inter’s centre-back Francesco Acerbi turned to his fellow defender Matteo Darmian and said: “Io vado.” I’m off.
Off where? As goalkeeper Yann Sommer launched a hopeful long ball, Acerbi ran for the Barcelona penalty area. Did anyone know what he was doing? Nope. “Me neither,” Marcus Thuram says, shaking his head. “Everybody talks about tactics, but football is football — and then you need a little bit of magic.”
Thuram won the second ball, Denzel Dumfries crossed it, and Acerbi equalised, taking the game to extra time. It was a finish worthy of Giuseppe Meazza, the striker after whom San Siro is named. It was also pure Inter — a club founded by artists and poets, one that’s just as capable of cutting off their ear (as they did by throwing away a 2-0 lead in both games) as creating a Champions League masterpiece.
“The spirit of Inter came out,” Darmian says. The pazza Inter (pazza means ‘mad’ in Italian) with centre-backs crazy enough to improvise as centre-forwards. “Another game began after that,” Zanetti observes.
That other game was one that Inter won in extra time when substitutes Mehdi Taremi and Davide Frattesi combined to make it 4-3 on the night, 7-6 on aggregate, and book their place in the Champions League final.
Read more below
GO FURTHER
Inter left their last Champions League final with an aura. Now they’re seeking immortality
Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique may have already won the Champions League with Barcelona, but that wasn't on his mind as he spoke ahead of today's final.
💬 “The motivation for me is to win the Champions League for the first time with Paris. I want this as a gift for the team, for the club, for the city. My team knows how to unpick teams like this and how to get that tight-knit defence to unravel. I'm very optimistic.
“We've grown a lot this season and the players have progressed a lot. I think the strength of the team is the most important thing. You learn something every day after many years of experience as a coach, and I'm improving all the time with this group.”
Only one change to the PSG starting XI from the semi-final is as expected with Bradley Barcola dropping out and Ousmane Dembele coming back in as the No 9.
Luis Enrique switched and tinkered in the league phase (17 changes in eight matches) but has found a pretty settled line-up in the knockouts — 10 changes now in nine knockout games.
It’s nine of the same 11 that beat Reims in the Coupe de France final at the weekend (with Gianluigi Donnarumma and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in for Matvei Safonov and Barcola).

source