PSG 5-0 Inter Milan: Luis Enrique’s side dispatch their Italian opponents to seal treble in Munich
By the time Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran through to make it 4-0 for Paris Saint-Germain in the 73rd minute, there was very little need for reaction from fans of either persuasion. The tie had long been concluded before that. Only the motions remained, a passive acceptance that PSG were Champions League winners, and Inter Milan had reached their limits.
A drab musical performance to open the night belied the tension between two teams who had much hanging in the balance. For PSG, they needed the last act of their romantic French play, the Qatari tragicomedy, the “cherry on the top”, directed by that Spanish playwright Luis Enrique. On the other hand was Inter’s squad of veterans led by Simone Inzaghi, making their final appearance on the grand stage, denied once in Istanbul but hoping for the miracle of second chances.
It was not to be. Inter had been courageous as they triumphed over heavyweights Bayern and Barcelona, but by the time they made their way to the floodlights of Munich these grizzled veterans were thoroughly spent. The bus had run out of fuel. A side who had given so much, at the Allianz Arena, at Montjuic, at the San Siro; who had delivered a thrilling semi-final night to be remembered forever. They had no more to give.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan at 36, having toured Europe and seemingly at his end, was resurrected by Inzaghi to display his talents once more among the best. Francesco Acerbi, the hero who survived cancer and bolted the length of the San Siro at the 90th minute to put his side back in the tie when it seemed they were on their way out against Barcelona. Yann Sommer, who had stood against the formidable Lamine Yamal and survived. Here they expected a fitting end to their swansong. It turned out that the journey itself was the story.
For Enrique, this was a performance to stake his claim as one of the best managers of all time. In the manner of the great historic sculptors of Paris, he has moulded the best team in the world, a side who could lose one of the best players on earth but only become better. Vitinha, frightening with the ball at his feet, the metronome. Desire Doue, only 19 but unfazed by the big stage, ready to display his special talents for the world to behold. But with all their talent, they are but cogs in the wheel. Only the collective matters, the beautifully set football machine, humming and whirring, picking off the best sides of England on its way to the great stage, and on getting there, putting the Italians to the sword, showing the old dogs of Inter new tricks.
Just after the opening whistle PSG kicked the ball straight out of play, but it was Inter who would spend the night sleepwalking. Inzaghi pranced and gesticulated on the sidelines but on the pitch his team may well have mistaken the gameplan for slow and snoozy.
With only 12 minutes played, the vanguard of Enrique’s army carved a right angle on the turf as they cut Inter open for Achraf Hakimi to pass into an empty net. It was a goal that set the tone, that showed just what the Parisians were capable of. A few minutes later they went 2-0 up, a scuffed shot from Doue helped past Sommer by an unfortunate deflection.
It didn’t matter. Even if it hadn’t gone in, another would have. Inter were never in it. Not with Marcus Thuram’s dangerous header that slashed just wide of the post, not when Donnarumma spilled a corner and the Italians’ eyes lit up for a few seconds. Most of the game saw a passive team thoroughly beaten before the night was even over.
There were plenty of signs that Inter could go down even further, including when Doue’s clever flick allowed Dembele to put Hakimi through with plenty of space to run into the box, but the Moroccan’s effort went wide.
There would be no deflection, no miss, just after the hour when Doue was put through on goal by the superb Vitinha and slotted the ball in beyond Sommer. He was replaced just afterwards by Bradley Barcola, another young man with magic feet. After Kvaratskhelia had made it 4-0 Barcola dribbled through the Inter defence, but it was evidence of the casual nature of PSG’s night that he just carelessly finished on the wrong side of the post.
It didn’t matter, because Senny Mayulu soon made it 5-0. It didn’t matter because Inter never looked like they had it in them to give any more. It didn’t matter because Enrique’s PSG had shown they were in a place beyond time and space, beyond reach, the stuff of champions, worthy of the new kings of Europe.
