On 23 August 2020, Paris Saint-Germain played their first ever Champions League final at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon – a tournament unlike any other, played entirely in Portugal in a condensed format behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PSG had done everything right to get there. They eliminated Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta and RB Leipzig to reach the final under Thomas Tuchel, the German coach brought in specifically to end the club’s long wait for European glory. Neymar had finally found his form. Kylian Mbappe was 21 and electric. Angel di Maria was dangerous throughout. This felt like their year.
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Bayern Munich, however, were on a mission of their own. Hansi Flick’s side had won every single game en route to the final – the first team in Champions League history to achieve that feat. They had crushed Barcelona 8-2 in the quarter-finals and were the most dominant side in Europe.
The final itself was tense and cagey. Neymar and Mbappe both missed clear chances in the first half – Neuer making a brilliant double save to deny the Brazilian before the break. PSG had their moments but Bayern’s intensity was relentless.
Then in the 59th minute, Coman appeared at the back post to guide a header into the bottom corner – the winning goal scored by a man who had left PSG’s academy as a teenager, frustrated by a lack of opportunities at his home club.
Thiago Silva, playing his final match for PSG after a decade at the club, was powerless to prevent it. Robert Lewandowski finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 15 goals. Neymar was photographed in tears. The trophy that had been the entire purpose of Qatar’s investment remained out of reach.
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Five years later in Munich, Luis Enrique’s PSG finally got their hands on it – crushing Inter Milan 5-0 in the most dominant final performance in the competition’s history.
Now on Saturday in Budapest, they face Arsenal with the chance to become back-to-back Champions League winners for the first time since Real Madrid’s three consecutive titles between 2016 and 2018. The heartbreak of Lisbon is long behind them. The question now is whether they can make history again.
Photo: REUTERS/Matthew Childs/Pool
