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“This could be night where everyone agrees that Ousmane Dembele has to be the Ballon d’Or winner”
The PSG forward has been in sensational form this season, and has been a massive influence in their run to the final.
Dembele has eight goals and four assists in the Champions League this season, registering at least one of each in PSG’s past five knockout games.
Guillem Balague believes that could put Dembele in contention for the Ballon d’Or, telling FourFourTwo: “I think when you debate that, people might remember the Dembele of Barcelona or previous years, but he has been extraordinary.
“He just needs a coronation, a universal coronation if you like; he just needs the perfect night in a final like this.”
More from Balague here.
Quiz time
We should get team news for you in the next 45 minutes or so.
In the meantime, why not put your knowledge to the test with a couple of quizzes?
We’ve got a big quiz on Inter for you here, and an equally packed twenty questions on PSG for you here.
“The Champions League final could be Simone Inzaghi’s last dance with Inter”
One of the giants of Italian football, Inter have a more impressive and long-standing pedigree in this competition: they’ve been crowned European champions three times, in 1964, 1965, and 2010.
Yet for years on end in the 2010s, they Inter did not even qualify for the Champions League after finding themselves consistently off the pace in Serie A.
Things started turning around under Antonio Conte, who brought the league title back to the club in 2021 – and his successor, Simeone Inzaghi, is yet to finish lower than third.
But there’s been frustrations too. Inter narrowly missed out on the title this season, with Napoli holding off their challenge on the final day.
More pertinently for tonight’s occasion: Inter were Champions League finalists two years ago, too, but were beaten by treble winners Manchester City, with Rodri scoring the only goal of the game.
There’s been rumours about Inzaghi’s future knocking around, and this squad is not getting any younger. Alasdair Mackenzie explains why this could be Inzaghi’s last dance with Inter.
“Luis Enrique made it clear he wouldn’t come to PSG if a certain culture continued”
PSG have been the nearly-men of the Champions League since their Qatari takeover in 2011. They’ve been in the last 16 five times, the quarter-finals four times, the semi-finals twice, and the final once, in 2020 – but are still yet to get their hands on the trophy.
This season has been their most convincing assault on the competition yet: Luis Enrique’s side have played genuinely scintillating stuff at times.
That’s no accident, either. The former Barcelona boss made his vision clear upon joining the club in 2023.
As Guillem Balague explained: “He made it clear he wouldn’t come if a certain culture continued. For the first time since Qatar acquired PSG, they granted total authority to the manager. He wanted that authority, but he also drew a very clear line with the past.
“What attracted him to the job was the ability to mould the team to his vision. Galtier left, Neymar left, and Mbappé, everyone knew, he only had one extra year there. Without the club’s support in terms of player profiles and sometimes not getting it right, or at least not getting the results, it wouldn’t have helped.
“But he has total backing from the hierarchy, and he’s managed to mould the team to look close to the best team he’s ever had.”
How to watch the Champions League final in the United States
Fans in the US can watch a PSG v Inter Milan live stream on CBS Sports Golazo Network and the Paramount+ streaming platform.
You can get Paramount+ for just $7.99 a month on the Essential package, or $12.99 for Showtime, which is the ad-free plan.
Paramount+ is also playing host to the Beckham & Friends alt-cast, where you can watch David Beckham and Tom Cruise watching the Champions League final.
If you’re after the local kick-off time in the States, the game will get under way at 3pm ET / 12pm PT on May 31.
Watch the Champions League Final in the UK for FREE
The Champions League final will be on TNT Sports 1 on TV and Discovery+ online where it can be viewed FOR FREE – more on that above.
Coverage starts at 6pm for two hours of build-up ahead of the 8pm kick-off.
Inter’s route to the final
Inter fared better in the league phase, winning six of their eight games, but were mostly steady and dependable rather than exciting: five of their eight games finished 1-0 one way or the other (Bayer Leverkusen the only side to beat them), while Inter shared a 0-0 draw away to Manchester City.
Things have been difference in the knockouts, though. Their 4th-place finish in the league phase meant Inter didn’t need a play-off game and went straight to the round of 16, where Inter beat Feyenoord 4-1 on aggregate.
Both legs of their quarter-final against Bayern Munich were finely poised and topsy-turvy. After Inter won the first leg 2-1, Harry Kane levelled things up in the second half of the second leg – only for Inter to respond with a rapid-fire double to put themselves 4-2 up on aggregate and render Eric Dier’s later goal for Bayern insufficient.
And then…bloody hell, those semi-finals against Barcelona. 3-3 in the first legs, with both sides exchanging leads. 4-3 in the second-leg, with Raphinha scoring what looked to be an incredible comeback winner from two goals down only for Francesco Acerbi to equalise in added time. And then, in extra time, a winner from Davide Fratessi.
That match instantly went into our ranking of the greatest Champions League games of all time. Hopefully, tonight’s game will be joining the list too.
PSG’s route to the final
PSG took a little bit of time to find their stride in this season’s Champions League. They won their first league phase game against Girona, only to embark on a four-game winless streak that included losses to Arsenal, Atletico Madid and Bayern Munich.
But once they got going? Boy did they. PSG pounded RB Salzburg, Manchester City and Stuttgart to round off the group phase, then pummelled domestic rivals Brest (stop it) 10-0 on aggregate in the play-offs.
It was all-English for PSG after that. They dominated Liverpool, but were kept at bay by Alisson’s repeated heroics and got through on penalties.
Next up were Aston Villa, over whom PSG took a 5-1 aggregate lead midway through the second leg before Unai Emery’s side fell just short of a heroic comeback.
Then came Arsenal in the semi-finals, and Luis Enrique’s side looked largely comfortable across the two legs, taking a 3-1 aggregate win.
PSG’s impressive performances have made them the odds-on favourites tonight. Can they live up to that billing?
The venue
Munich’s Allianz Arena will play host to tonight’s final.
This is the second time this stadium has hosted the Champions League final. The last time? Back in 2012, when Roberto Di Matteo’s Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on their own turf.
That game was a tense one: Bayern didn’t take the lead until the 83rd minute through Thomas Muller, with Didier Drogba equalising five minutes later. It took a penalty shootout to separate the sides.
Evening all
Are we excited? We’re excited. Maybe some of you are nervous. Fair enough. It’s a big occasion.
The stage is set in Munich – now we’re just waiting for team news ahead of kick-off at 8pm.
Stick with us and we’ll guide you through everything you need to know ahead of tonight’s Champions League final before we get into the game itself.
